Café, Books and Soap
by Dirarose
Summary: To improve her company PoPi Piper attends a workshop. What if she met a tall black-haired woman there? A Vauseman-Story
1. Chapter 1 No one wants a boring bf

_Hey_

_This is my first story. Also english is not my first language so if there should be any mistakes I apologize in advance, I did the best I can. I hope you enjoy reading my story._

Chapter 1: No one wants a boring boyfriend

[Piper: Can we meet at the Liquid Temptation?]

[Polly: What is wrong?]

[Piper: I need a drink, maybe more than one. And I need to talk to you.]

[Polly: okay. I can be there in 15 mins.]

[Piper: Thanks, Pol.]

Piper put down her phone. This was not how she had planned everything. Why did this have to happen today? Confused she headed towards the bar. Maybe, if she was there before Polly she could have a few minutes more to figure out, what to tell her. Still the thoughts in her mind weren't slowing down, rather picking up speed. She really hadn't been prepared for this.

As she walked into the bar she looked for a quieter place where she and Polly could talk. About her fucked up day and how everything went wrong.

There weren't many visitors there that evening, but it wasn't empty. As it was Sunday evening most people probably stayed home preparing for work the next day.

The bar had a rather rustic feeling to it. In the background rock music was playing and the whole bar gave away a rockstar-feeling.

Polly walked in a few minutes later, looked around and spotted Piper, who had already ordered her first drink.

„You couldn't have waited for me with your first drink?" Polly tried to tease walking up to her and sitting down next to her. Seeing the look on Piper's face she immediately thought, it might not have been the best idea to start the evening like that.

„Hi to you too. And no. No way that could wait. I really need that." Piper said.

"Sorry. What's up? You look exhausted and confused." Polly stated.

"I, umm…, broke up with Larry." Piper said shortly.

"Oh"

"Oh? Is that all you have to say to that?" Piper was getting frustrated.

They were interrupted by the waitress coming to ask what Polly was having. Polly ordered herself a Long Island Iced Tea and went to reply to Piper.

"No. But I want to hear from you why? I thought you two were happy?"

"I just can't be with him anymore. He is a nice guy. I know that. But I'm not happy with 'nice' anymore. It's getting boring. And I want more, you know? I realized, that if I don't do anything now, I mean, get out there, have fun and adventures, I won't do it anytime later. So I guess now was the point. I don't want to end up as an old person wondering what could have been. My 2.5 kids will be out the house, Larry is going to be the same 'nice' guy as he always has been, and I am standing there not satisfied with my life at all, boring myself to death. That is not the future I want to look forward to."

"And that's why you don't want a future with Larry anymore? Right now it rather sounds like you want to convince yourself that you did the right thing. You two have been together for such a long time. You really want to give that up so easily?"

"Yes. It is the right thing to do. I don't want to be stuck in a life that I don't enjoy."

"Have you talked to Larry about changing things before you ended your relationship of 5 years? He might be up for it. I know after a while with the same partner it might get quieter, you know the most things about each other, the mystery from the beginning is gone and you adjust to each other. But that doesn't mean you have to throw it away!" Polly tried.

Polly's drink arrived, and Piper waited for the waitress to leave before going on with their conversation. Before going on she asked the waitress for another Margarita. "My first is almost empty already. Thanks." She added.

"If you like him so much, why don't you go over and have a drink with him? He's single now, you know. Whose friend are you, Polly?" This was not the reaction Piper had wanted. All she wanted was for Polly to be on her side, tell her that everything was going to be fine and she didn't have to worry. Basically, to be her friend. Which she was supposed to be.

"I just want to make sure you are sure about this." Polly said looking at her friend in slight worry.

"I am sure this is what I need to do right now. He is not the one I want to spend the rest of my life with." Piper told her without looking at her friend.

Polly noticed that Piper couldn't really look at her and wondered if there was more to it. So she asked: "Is that all there is to it? Why exactly now?"

Piper cursed in her thought. Of course, she couldn't keep anything from Polly, she just knew her too well.

"He obviously had a nice evening planned, a romantic date. And I thought finally something new and different. Not like the dates he planned before and which were all the same. So I was positively surprised. We ate at that fancy restaurant and had a great time. I must admit I had thought about ending the relationship before, but somehow didn't do it before today. Maybe I waited for something to change or – I don't know. Today - with the date he had planned - I thought it might work out, things will change, not be the same old things anymore. He, umm, he proposed to me." Polly's eyes went wide. "And I was speechless. I didn't feel excited. You're supposed to feel excited, if that's the right thing to do, right?" Piper didn't wait for an answer. "I realized, that this whole evening was different and planned to be special for the proposal. After that it would just go back to the good old average restaurant visit and a movie on the couch kind of dates. I just couldn't do that. So I told him no and that I can't be with him anymore, because I don't love him enough to be his wife or even girlfriend anymore." she finished.

Polly didn't say anything for a while. Piper was starting to ask her if everything was alright when Polly started to speak: "That is quite a story. I didn't know he was asking you. I didn't know you were not happy with your relationship anymore. But I'm here for you. If that is your decision I will be there and support you." Polly moved closer to Piper and hugged her.

A quiet "Thank you" was all Piper said.

They went on and talked for a while. Larry or the events of the day didn't come up again. It was getting later, and both women prepared to leave and go home.

"Are you prepared for tomorrow? All packed?" Polly asked Piper.

"Prepared – yes and no. Packed – not at all." Piper replied.

"What means yes and no?" Polly looked worried.

"That means, I am prepared, but it wasn't enough I had to end my relationship today, my car broke and as I'm not in the city for the next days I don't have time to bring it to a garage." Piper said annoyed.

Why did everything happen at the same day. All she had wanted was to have a nice and quiet Sunday before she had to go to Washington DC for a workshop for the next three days.

"Oh damn. You really had an exciting Sunday." Polly said. Piper just shot her a glance and Polly added: "Okay, not exciting in the positive meaning! Wow, do you want to borrow my car? I don't really need it for the next few days."

"No thanks, I already found a train that goes directly so I don't have to change trains. It's about 3h and leaves very early, but I'll be there in time. I'll have to get up early but I can sleep on the train, or read. I'll see. I also won't have to worry about traffic. So I'm good. But you could really help me, if you got my car to a garage. Could you do that in the next few days before I get back?"

"Yeah, shouldn't be a problem. How early is that? And from where do the trains leave?" Polly asked.

"Thanks, Pol. I have to be at the workshop-place at 10am. The train leaves around 6.30. I'm gonna look into that when I get back home. I hoped I find one from Grand Central, as it's closer to my place, but the train leaves from Penn Station."

"Okay, text me, if you need anything, like a ride to the station." Polly offered.

"Thanks, I'll just get an uber or a cab. But thanks for offering. Would you really get up at that time just to give me a ride?" Piper asked slightly amused.

"Yeah, you are my best friend. I would totally do that for you. Because I believe you would do the same thing for me if I needed it and I could go back to bed after that. I'd just go to Popi's a little later than usual." Polly smirked.

"Thanks, and yeah, I would. But right now, I gotta leave. I got a suitcase to pack!" With that, Piper got up, said goodbye to Polly and went home.

"Being friends with that girl never gets boring." Polly mumbled to herself when she left the bar to go home.


	2. Chapter 2 Getting there

Chapter 2: Getting there

When Piper got home she was still in deep thought about her in the fresh air on the way back and the conversation with Polly before had really helped clearing her mind.

Not wanting to go back to a boring everyday life being dependent on someone else, especially with periodically returning misunderstanding as they always seem to happen between her and her boyfriends, she promised herself to lay off guys for a while. No man in her life for a while. To make that decision final and commit to it she texted Polly her decision. She knew, once her decision was out there Polly would remind her to stick to it and she couldn't just change her mind.

[Piper: Hey Pol, thanks again for the evening. Definite decision: No guys for me for a while. Trying to keep my mind clear for a while.]

[Polly: Stop thanking me. There is nothing to thank me for. I'm there just as you are there for me. That's a sudden decision. You sure?]

[Piper: Yes, completely sure.]

[Polly: Okay. I will make sure you'll stay with it.]

Piper smiled. She was happy she had Polly, being able to always count on her. What would her life be without her best friend?

She packed her last things and went into the bathroom. It was getting really late and she regretted not having done her packing for her trip earlier. She would really need those 3 hours the train ride took to get more sleep before having a full day of business. She reminded herself that she was taking this trip to do this workshop which would help making Popi's bigger and hopefully more successful so both Piper and Polly could word at their start-up full time. Maybe in the afternoon, the workshop would end around 4.30pm she could actually see something of the sights the city had to offer. But that was secondary. After all this was a business trip.

XXXXX

"Son of a bitch. Why did I not go there yesterday already?!" Piper growled. Usually she was a morning person, but anything before 6am was too early, even for her. So, when the alarm went off at 5am she wasn't pleased at all. Especially with the long day ahead. But she knew she didn't have time to hit snooze or else she would miss her train and be late for the workshop.

She took a deep breath when she finally sat down in the train. Just when she thought she could calm down a little and take a nap, she two girls coming down the aisle discussing something loudly. 'Please go on. Don't sit close to me' Piper thought. But of all the seats they could've chosen, they sat down right in the row behind her. Of course, going on with their loud discussion.

"Thank you, dear universe" Piper mumbled to herself.

"I just don't understand how you can play that down like that." the woman complained. She looked young, maybe around 20.

"It's just not a big deal to me. Yes, of course, I could have handled it differently. But I didn't. I can't change that anymore, now can I?" the other girl, probably around the same age, replied.

Piper thought about switching seats and looked around to see if she found a quiet place to sit. But almost all the seats had already been taken. 'How can a train at this time of the day be so full?' Piper wondered.

"No, you can't, but it still doesn't mean I have to be okay with that." The black haired, Asian-looking girl said.

"Look Brook, I don't know why we are even fighting over this. Now seeing that nothing can be changed."

"I get that, but I hope you see what I mean, Poussey." Brook replied.

Piper cursed herself for having forgotten to pack her headphones. She really tried not to listen to their conversation, but those two girls made it really hard not to.

Poussey didn't reply to that, which obviously Brook didn't like, as she then went on how Poussey would be quite distant recently and Piper now figured, that the two girls were a couple. Brook went on and on. Every now and then Poussey would reply and defend herself or try to calm her girlfriend, but Brook just went on.

"Now how can you say that?" Poussey said, obviously a little hurt after Brook accused her of not understanding her and not being the girlfriend Brook apparently wished she had.

"I, uh, sorry P. I didn't mean it like that." Brook said, slightly uncomfortable with the situation she got herself in.

Piper thought that maybe the discussion would end, and she could take the remaining 2 hours for the much needed nap, but Brook was clearly a talker and went on after a while having recovered from her short moment of discomfort.

'Oh, please someone make her stop' Piper wished. She was in a bad mood already.

She tried to compose herself a little and turned around.

"Excuse me, it is very early, people on this train might want to use these early hours to catch up on missed sleep or just having a nice start to their weeks. Would you mind either continuing your discussion later or speaking quieter? That would be very nice, thank you." Piper said, hoping she hadn't sounded too rude.

"Uhm, sorry." Poussey said apologetically.

Turning back Piper saw a few thankful faces around her and was pleased that she made the train ride more pleasant not just for herself but others too.

The two girls went on arguing in a quieter voice but soon went back to their earlier loudness.

Piper gave up and just accepted that she wouldn't get more sleep or a quiet train ride before sitting in the workshop the whole day.

To prepare she printed out all the information about Popi's that she might need and hoped to be able to work on during the next three days. She figured she might take the remaining time on the train for preparation. The better she was prepared and could work with Popi's information in this workshop the less work it would mean afterwards.


	3. Chapter 3 Who is this late arrival?

_Thanks for the reviews. And follows. I'll try to update at least once a week, maybe twice. Enjoy._

Chapter 3: Who is this late arrival?

She arrived in time and had, just as she had planned, a few minutes to spare. She looked around and saw that some participants had arrived just as early as she did. There was a table placed upfront where obviously the facilitator for the workshop was placed. The tables for the participants were placed in a U-shaped form. Piper decided to take one of the places on the side facing the opposite row of participants and not a place on the tables facing the facilitator directly. As it came closer to the beginning the other participants placed themselves and it got a bit quieter in the room. Looking around Piper noticed all seats were taken, just the table right opposite of her was vacant.

"Good morning everyone. I'm Natalie Figueroa, I will be working with you for the next three days. I'm happy to see all the seats are already taken, the last vacant one should hopefully be filled soon."

Just as she said this, the door opened, and the last participant entered the room.

"Sorry, traffic problems." the tall woman said while sitting down in the last free seat.

Piper had just taken the folder and her college block out of her backpack and placed on her table. She hadn't looked at the new arrival yet, but 'What a sexy voice' popped up in her head, when she heard the woman speak.

"Don't worry, we just started. As I just said, welcome to the workshop "Business Starter: How to make your start-up a success". I assume nobody knows each other here, so I would suggest everyone just shortly states their name and what their new business is about."

She looked up and saw a rather pale, dark haired woman sitting opposite from her. 'Not just a sexy voice' was Piper's thought. 'She really looks amazing. What a beautiful woman' Piper couldn't stop the thoughts from crossing her mind.

The man sitting two to the right from Piper introduced himself as Tom who started an online shop for all second-hand clothes. Next to her sat Peter, who said he owned a small bar that to his words was flourishing. Next up was her.

"Hello everyone. I'm Piper Chapman. My friend Polly and I own a little business called PoPi. We make artisanal bath products. We started out making soaps but widened our business to lotion and some other products. We have been doing quite good so far, but I wanted to know how we can do better."

While her short introduction she saw the black-haired beauty eying her. She didn't say much more as she suddenly felt nervous noticing that the woman opposite her looked at her curiously.

The row went on, but Piper couldn't concentrate on the other introductions, just waiting for the black-haired beauty to introduce herself.

Finally, it was her turn. She introduced herself as Alex who had recently opened a café which was also a second-hand bookstore/ trading place. "My idea was, that if you bring a book you can take one or if you didn't bring a book you can buy one for a small price."

Books and coffee? The best combination to have a good time. Piper always had been a book person and she loved a good coffee. This Alex was really interesting. Not only did she look amazing, she also seemed to enjoy the things Piper liked most. 'If you open a cafe like that you gotta like both, don't you?' Piper thought and figured she probably had time during the next three days to get to know a few things about the very sexy Alex.

When everyone was done, there were 12 participants, the facilitator went on.

"Okay. Thanks everyone for the short introduction, I'm sure we all will get to know each other over the next three days a little" 'Oh yes please' Piper thought. "and by the end of those days you'll hopefully have learned a few skills to help you make your business even better."

Mrs. Figueroa then showed them the schedule for the next days including lunch breaks and what tools they would be using and have a chance at testing.

Peeking over at Alex Piper didn't fully pay attention to Mrs. Figueroa's explanations. 'Those are gonna be three hard days to concentrate on learning something.' Piper thought no longer denying that she found her opposite very attractive and being interested in getting to know her. While peeking to get a look of Alex without being too suspicious, Piper didn't want to get caught and thought she had found a subtle way of looking at the black-haired woman without raising too much suspicion or being found staring at her.

The facilitator started the first presentation and Piper tried to follow what she was saying, her eyes though wandering off to Alex.

Taking notes helped Piper concentrate, so she kept on writing. Even though she noticed that nobody else was writing down much, she kept writing. Still she couldn't stop from looking across the tables every now and then. About two hours had passed, Piper had been writing a few pages while everybody else barely made it to one whole page of notes.

'Ugh, Polly is going to kill me, if I get back home not having learnt anything' Piper thought. Because, even with taking notes the whole time her mind had wandered off quite often, just as her eyes, and she didn't remember anything she had written down. Hoping she had put down the right facts on her pages she thought she could just go over them back at home and hopefully make sense of it. So that her being there was useful for PoPi.

Time passed, and it was close to lunch break. Piper had taken even more notes and heard her stomach growling, thinking it was really time for lunch. She looked over to Alex and thought 'How can someone be so attractive? How can I be drawn to her like that? I don't know a thing about her, except what she told everyone?' Just then the tall woman looked over to her and their gazes met. 'Beautiful eyes too, of course' Piper couldn't help but smirk. In Alex's eyes Piper saw curiosity but also a self-confidence that she hadn't seen before.

XXXXX

Soon it was lunch time and they went to a bistro close to the institute where the workshop took place.

"Hi. You're Piper right? Soap business, if I remember correctly?" a voice came from the side. When Piper turned to the side she saw Alex walking next to her.

"Uhm, yes that's me. It's called PoPi's. My friend Polly and I started it. So Polly and Piper is PoPi." Piper explained, suddenly feeling all excited cause the black haired woman talked to her when she spent nearly the whole morning watching her. "And if I remember correctly you're Alex. Café/Bookshop? Does it have a name?"

"Yes. True. I'm Alex and no it doesn't have a name yet. I'm still looking for one. I got something in mind but not sure if I should take it. So as we open in two months I still have at least a month to find one. So if you have an idea feel free to let me know." Alex smiled at her.

"Sure." 'What a beautiful smile too.' Piper thought. "I really like the combination of it. I love coffee and good books and both combined is a winning combination."

"Looks like I got my first customer." Alex chuckled.

"Sure. If you tell me where I'll find it I'll make sure to check it out." Piper replied.

They arrived at the bistro and sat down at a long table. Everyone was chatting loudly. Piper hoped she could find a place next to Alex so they could go on with their conversation. Piper was lucky. She sat down with both seats next to her free. One on her left was taken by Paul who started a company that was producing stamps created by the customer. So the chair to her right was still empty. It was filled pretty quickly and as she looked up it was Alex who sat next to her. She smiled at her.

"I was hoping we could go on with our little conversation." Piper told her. Alex replied with a smile.

"Yeah, me too. So Piper. You like books? What's your favourite?" Alex asked.

"I'm not sure if you know it, it's not a classic. It's called "Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore" by Robin Sloan." Piper answered.

"No, you're right I haven't heard if it before. But the title sounds really interesting. What is it about?"

"It is based in San Francisco. A man, Clay, worked as web-designer but loses his job due to a recession. To not be unemployed he finds a job in this bookstore. It is a rather mysterious bookstore, open 24/7 as the title says. In one half it is a normal bookstore where you can buy books and the other one is a kind of library where you can borrow books. There are always very special people coming to borrow those books, like really special characters, because those books bear a secret message and all have to be decoded. Clay unravels the message in a pretty unique way and discovers a lot more, because the store is just a facade for something bigger and even more mysterious. It is a really great story. But I don't want to tell too much, in case you might want to read it now. But the story got everything a book-person needs, secrets, books and a mysterious bookshop." Piper smiles.

"It sounds really interesting. And After your description I definitely want to read it. It sounds like you really love this book!" Alex says looking curious and amused.

"Yes I do. It's my favourite. What's your favourite?" Piper asks back. While she had given Alex the summary their lunch had arrived. Being really hungry she starts the spaghetti carbonara that she ordered.

"Oh, that's hard to say. I got many that I really like, but my favourite is I would say "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon." Alex said.

"Aha. I think I might've heard about it. What is it about?" Piper was curious.

"It's about this 15 year-old boy who lives with his dad, when the neighbours dog gets murdered. He is really scared and tries against the displeasure of the father to find out who killed the dog. That doesn't sound like the biggest or most interesting storyline, but it's the boy who makes it interesting. He's a very special character. You could say he is autistic, according to the author he is, if he'd be diagnosed, he'd be diagnosed as having Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism. So he sees the events completely different of how we might see them and has a different way of approaching it."

"That sounds really interesting. I'll put it on my reading list." Piper smiled at her. "I didn't even ask. Is your store going to be here in Washington?"

"No. I'm not from here. I just came here for the workshop. I live in Brooklyn, New York. The Store is gonna be around the corner from where I live. I found an affordable place nearby. I'm really happy about the fact that it's not gonna be far from my place to my Cafe. Are you from Washington?" Alex explained and asked Piper. She suddenly had an anxious look on her face as if hoping the answer would be no.

"I'm just here for the workshop, too. I'm actually from Miami." Piper replied, wanting to see Alex's reaction. And for a second she seemed to look disappointed. Piper tried to hide a smile.

"I am kidding. I'm actually from New York too. Or better moved there couple years ago. Lower East Side actually. Close to East Broadway Station." Piper told her.

"Are you serious? That's like two stops on the subway from where I live." Alex laughed. "I live pretty close to Bergen Street Station."

"Yeah, this time serious. It's funny that we live so close and meet here in Washington. But okay. The city is big!" Piper was amused and excited that this really hot woman lived so close to her. Maybe if Alex liked her… Piper stopped herself there. She didn't want to go that far, assuming that Alex way gay, that she liked her, like she was attracted to the black-haired woman and that this would work. Like - what were the odds of this happening? So Piper rather focused on their conversation right there and not what could possibly be.

They kept talking for a short while, finished their lunch and soon went back with the rest of the group to continue the workshop.

_The two books I took as their favorites are two of my favorites and are really great to read, especially Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, for everyone who loves books. Highly recommended._

_If you have suggestions for a name for Alex's bookstore/café write a comment. I'm still looking for one._


	4. Chapter 4 Living close to you again!

Chapter 4: Living close to you again?!

After a long, exhausting afternoon, learning, taking more notes and a few discussions, the first day was over.

On the way out, Alex came up to Piper. "Do you have plans for the rest of the day already?", she asked.

"Not really. Checking in, unloading some of this stuff in my hotel room and then maybe go and see some sights, I haven't been to Washington D.C. before." Piper answered.

"Not really? That sounds like a plan already. Mind if I join? My plans were kind of similar." Alex wanted to know.

"Not at all. Which hotel are you staying at?"

"It's actually not that far. I think it's called Capitol Skyline Hotel." Alex replied.

Piper's eyes widened with surprise. "You too? Me too. So we have the same way to the hotel. So many coincidences here…" Piper laughed.

XXXXX

They had been walking to their hotel together. Talking on the way there Piper told Alex how PoPi's was found.

**FLASHBACK**

Polly opened the door and was surprised to see her friend standing in front of her.

"Piper! What are you doing here? I didn't expect you at all."

"Hey, Pol. I needed to get away for a moment. Larry was just downright annoying."

"Oh, what did he do now? Did he forget to pick up something important again, or just be himself?" Polly chuckled.

"What? No. And you're playing all those events down a little. I'm not like that and freaking out about small stuff like that."

"That was exactly what you've been doing recently." Polly told her.

"No I haven't!" Piper pouted.

"You have been overly impatient with him for the whole time the two of you have been living together. And it's been like - what - a month now? You are both getting used to living with someone and not alone anymore. It's gonna take some time to adjust to that."

"It's not that, or well, maybe exactly that. He doesn't understand that even though we're living together now I need some free space and some time to myself. He's just always there, Polly always and everywhere. I mean I enjoy having him around most of the time. But I need some time for myself sometimes and he just doesn't understand that. Even if I tell him, he doesn't react to it. He obviously doesn't need any free time and space just for him." Piper told her best friend.

"I can understand what you mean. Do you want me to talk to him about it?" Polly offered.

"Yes - no. I don't know. Is it okay if I just stay here for a bit to have a small time out, so to say?"

"Yes, of course." Polly gave her an understanding smile.

"What were you doing before I surprised you with my visit?" Piper asked.

"Oh, I was trying something new. Come with me." Piper followed Polly to her kitchen.

"Oh it smells so amazing in here!"

"Yeah. I've been trying to make soaps by myself. It isn't that hard actually. I was a little annoyed by the scents you can find in stores currently and wanted something different." Polly looked at Piper curious for her reply.

"They definitely smell heavenly. Will you make me some?" Piper requested.

"If you want, of course. Just tell me which scent."

"Oranges. I always liked the smell of oranges. When they're freshly peeled… " Piper said excited.

"Okay. I'll have to find a way to get that in a soap, but it should be possible." Polly replied.

"So you're just doing that for yourself or do you have plans for that?" Piper was curious.

"Oh, no. So far I've just done it for myself. I've given a few away mostly to my parents or Pete's. They really liked them."

"Do you think you could sell those?" Piper enquired.

"Why are you asking me this? Do mean I should sell those? But that would mean so much that comes with that! I'd need a shop, or a website and I'd need to produce enough to be sold. And I would need to do at least a little bit of advertisement. That is so much work!" Polly replied trying to think about everything that would needed to be done and how she should do all that.

"I could do that! Or part of that. I'm tired of working as a waitress. I want to do something new. Something that is fun. And making soaps with my best friend sounds exactly like that!" Piper got all excited.

"You're serious about this?" Polly wasn't really convinced yet. "Yeah, I mean it would be great if we could work together. But do you know how much work this is gonna be? And what if nobody wants to buy the soaps? We don't have any idea how to build our own business."

"Please Polly. I'm not saying we should both just quit our jobs and spend all day here, making soaps. I mean we both have bills to pay, right? But could we at least try that? It smells so heavenly in here! Who could not want to buy something that smells so good. And after using the soap you smell so good yourself. It's a great idea Polly. Come on… Take a risk and let's try this."

"Okay." Polly gave in. "But you're right about not quitting our jobs yet."

"Yes!" Piper was super excited. "We could call it Piper's and Polly's. Or Polly's and Piper's."

"Definitely Polly's and Piper's. I mean I'm the one making the soap." Polly laughed at her friends enthusiasm.

"I was the one who had the idea for the business!" Piper exclaimed.

"Without my soap there wouldn't have been any business idea to be had." Polly explained. "But I thinks we should shorten it a little. How About PoPi's?"

"Oh, I like that!" Piper replied.

They went on talking about their plans and how they wanted to build their business for the rest of the afternoon until Piper decided to head home and apologize to Larry for just disappearing and to tell him about their business idea.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

"That was about a year ago." Piper told Alex after she finished telling the story.

They had been working from Polly's kitchen in every free minute they had. Slowly her kitchen was getting too small though as after a couple months their idea really took off and the business started to grow.

"So a surprise visit to your best friend because you were annoyed with your boyfriend turned into founding of your company?" Alex asked feeling a little uneasy when mentioning the boyfriend part.

"Yeah. What a coincidence, right?" Piper replied not noticing Alex's slight disappointment.

"Yeah." was the only thing Alex said.

They arrived at the hotel and both checked in. Shortly before they went up to their rooms Piper asked: "Want to meet back down here in 45 minutes for some sightseeing?"

"Yeah, sure" Alex replied and got into the elevator.


	5. Chapter 5 Let's make a bet

_Hey everyone. I just noticed a little mistake in earlier chapters. Alex introduced herself at the workshop and it said she recently opened her café. Few lines later she tells Piper it opens in 2 months. Last one is correct. It is yet to open. Sorry about that. Enjoy this chapter.  
_

Chapter 5: Let's make a bet

They spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the sights of the city and had seen the White House, the World War II Memorial and some memorials and sights at the National Mall.

As the afternoon turned into evening they hadn't quite seen all of it and decided to come back the next day and maybe add some of the museums to their "to be seen"-list. Piper was really enjoying the afternoon so far. She noticed that Alex was a person she could easily talk to, without having an awkward moment of silence where you felt like you have to say something to make it less awkward. Even if things got quiet between the two ladies it was a comfortable silence and they always found a way of starting the conversation again. They both got hungry and found a little restaurant where they decided to eat something.

"I've really been enjoying our afternoon so far." Piper voiced.

"Yeah, me too." Alex gave her a smile.

"This place looks really nice." Piper said.

They got a table in the back of the restaurant in a rather secluded area. They both took some time exploring the menu.

"Have you decided yet?" Alex wanted to know.

"Mhm, not sure. It's either the tagliatelle with salmon or the classic spaghetti bolognese. Can't decide. What about you?"

"I think I'm going for pasta, too. But I'll have the one with chicken and cream sauce."

"Yeah that sounded pretty good."

They both ordered, Piper eventually deciding to have the salmon pasta.

"So, tell me if I go to far. But I'm curious. Why didn't you make this trip with sightseeing with your boyfriend? This could have easily been like a short vacation." Alex had thought the whole afternoon while they were sightseeing about asking further about this boyfriend or not, but eventually remembered that the story Piper had told happened a year ago. And you could always hope, right? Hope that there was no boyfriend anymore and hope that the woman sitting at the opposite side of the table was at least bisexual, but also hope that she didn't get her hopes up too high.

"Oh. Uh, two reasons, actually why this is not happening: first, even though there is some time to see sights and the city, I would have been away for most of the day which is not a great vacation-like feeling, I guess. And second, he's not my boyfriend anymore. We ended things recently." Piper explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Alex said, though being a lie, she wasn't sorry at all.

"Don't be. I was the one who ended it and it wasn't a spontaneous decision. So, I'm good. I mean, yeah, a break-up sucks, but not as much as the thought of spending the rest of my life with him." Piper kept talking.

"Okay. True though, break-ups really suck." Alex agreed.

"So, you don't have a boyfriend to take on a short vacation to DC?" Piper probed, suddenly feeling anxious.

"Uhm, no. I never had one and won't ever have one. I'm not into boys or rather men really. Neither, actually." Alex answered and was curious for the blondes reaction to that.

"Okay. That's okay. I mean why wouldn't it?" Piper rambled, feeling all nervous after the black-haired woman told her about liking women. Alex was amused by the blonde's sudden nervousness. Had that been a spark of relieve that she had seen in her eyes when she told her she was gay? No. It couldn't have been.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it?" she teased.

"Sorry about my rambling, I'm just gonna stop now." 'Oh my god, just shut up Piper' she scolded herself in her mind while blushing into a lite tomato red.

Alex found the reaction of the blonde kinda cute.

"It's okay. You're not the first straight girl to start rambling when I say I'm gay." Alex told her.

"Thanks for trying, but that doesn't really help. And that's not the point." Piper said, but felt a bit easier but still nervous and excited. It was good Alex liked girls, cause Piper felt really drawn to the tall woman sitting so close to her. But she didn't want to hope for too much just yet.

"Okay. I got an idea. We both tell the story of our first relationship and whoever got the more interesting or surprising one wins. What do you say? Up for a little competition?" Alex asked excitedly, sure she would win the competition.

"Let me think. What does the winner get?" Piper was curious for Alex's story.

"The loser has to buy the winner a drink?" Alex suggested.

"Okay, I'm in. Since you had the idea, you're telling your story first, though." Piper replied.

So Alex told her about her first girlfriend named Digger, whose parents ran a cemetery and who had stolen her a ring off a corpse as a sign of her love. They had been together for nearly two years until Digger left her for a professional water-skier.

"She said she was the only woman who ever looked hot in a life vest. How do you fight that?" Alex laughed and Piper joined in.

"I don't think anyone can. So this your story?" Piper asked.

"Not completely. I just recently found out, that Digger lives in Sacramento now, with her two kids and husband." Alex told her.

Piper laughed out loud. "Okay that's an ending with a twist. Seems like even a hot water-skier can be surpassed."

"So. It's your turn now. Tell me about your first boyfriend!" Alex laughed, thinking Piper's story could not be as interesting or turn out surprising as hers.

"Okay. My turn to tell you about my first real relationship." Piper got ready to tell the whole story about her first relationship. "I bet I'll win, though. And you have to promise me to not say anything in between, to keep your questions or anything you want to say until I'm finished, okay?"

"Okay. I promise I won't interrupt." Alex said, now being really curious.

_I know it has been a short chapter, I promise the next one is going to be a bit update is on monday._


	6. Chapter 6 My first relationship

Chapter 6: My first relationship

**FLASHBACK**

Sarah had invited her to the party. She didn't go to parties often, mostly because it was always trouble with her mother when she came home late. But also because she didn't like those parties thrown because someone's parents weren't home. So usually she avoided them. But this time her friend had been bugging her for about a week, asking her to go to that party with her. Dave, whom Sarah had a big crush on, would be there and Sarah thought it would look really weird if she went to the party all on her own. So eventually Piper gave in and tried to give it a chance. Maybe she liked this one. 'Who knows?' she thought.

When she and her friend Sarah entered the house the party was in full swing already. She saw few of her classmates standing in the hallway holding cups and chatting. They went further into the house and entered the living room that obviously became a place for couples to chat, make out or just show off what a happy couple they are. Loud music was everywhere. 'How can people talk at parties? You have to scream at each other.' Piper wondered.

The house had a basement which functioned as the dancefloor. Walking around further Piper soon found out what happened where. Knowing that, she still had no idea where she was supposed to go. She felt out of place somehow. She decided to get something to drink first and then decide what to do next. Sarah, whom she came here with had obviously spotted friends a while ago and disappeared into thin air since. 'Thank you, Sarah, for making me go here and then leaving me by myself.' Piper was annoyed by her friends behaviour. Even though she was not unpopular at school, she didn't have that many friends. It was okay for her. She got along with most of her classmates and had a couple close friends that she liked spending time with. And those friends were all she needed. Most of her friends though weren't at this party, just Sarah who had dragged her there.

After she got her drink she took a chance and went back to the hallway, maybe she could join her classmates in their chat.

As the evening went on, Piper got a couple of drinks, went to the dancefloor for a bit but soon had enough of the loud environment and many people around her. As she came back from the bathroom she, already being a little tipsy, confused the doors and suddenly she stood in the kitchen. It was wonderfully quiet in there. Well quiet compared to the rest of the house. Also there weren't any people there. So she took a moment and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs, just now noticing how exhausted she already was. Also how she was a little tipsy already. She hadn't had that many drinks, had she?

After a while, she didn't even know how long she had been lost in her thoughts, the door opened and a girl came in. She was obviously surprised to see Piper sitting on one of the chairs.

"Oh, hey there. Uhm, this is our kitchen and nobody is supposed to be in here. I hung a note on the door that it is off limits for everyone." the girl said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see that one. I was on my way back from the bathroom and must have confused the doors and landed here. It was so nice and more quiet than the rest of the house, so I decided to just stay a while. I'm sorry. I'll leave, I shouldn't be here." Piper excused herself and was about to get up and rather go home than going back to join the party.

"Oh no, stay. It's okay. I actually came in here for the same reason. Just having a bit quieter surrounding without a thousand people around me. So maybe we can just sit here together and chat a little while enjoying the almost silence."

Piper smiled relieved that she could just sit there for a bit longer. "Okay. Thanks."

"Uhm, you said 'our kitchen'. So you live here? That makes you the hostess. Why would you want to escape from you own party?" Piper enquired.

"Yeah, that's me. Actually it was my friends' idea. When I told them my parents were away for the weekend they kinda convinced me to throw this party. I said okay and left most of the planning to my friend Vicky. Wasn't the best idea. Vicky likes to go all in or don't do anything at all. She is this 'it's all or nothing' kind of person. So yeah, time for a little time out." the girl said. She looked gorgeous Piper thought. She somehow already liked her and suddenly felt weirdly excited and a bit nervous sitting here with her.

"It's nice to have a place to recharge." Piper said. "I'm sorry, my friend dragged me along to this party. I don't even know your name." she blushed.

The other girl laughed. "So a drag-along, huh. Never mind, it's okay. I'm Helena. And what's your name?"

"Oh, uhm, sorry I'm, uh, I'm Piper." she rather stuttered as a reply. Why was she that nervous? What was happening? Piper wasn't one to ever be shy or get nervous when talking to people, sometimes when talking to a boy she liked, but never when talking to other girls.

'Oh my god, she has beautiful brown eyes.' Piper thought when Helena looked at her. Also Piper got this weird tingling sensation in her stomach now that Helena smiled at her.

"Hi Piper. Nice to meet you."

"Same." Piper blushed. She was seriously confused about her own reactions. She didn't like girls. Maybe she did? Something like this hadn't happened to her before. This was new. But from her former crushes on boys she knew the feeling she had in her stomach.

Helena and Piper talked for a while. Piper found out, that her parents were on a weekend getaway as it was their 20th wedding anniversary, that Helena went to the same school but was a year older than her and her older brother was a freshman in college. Also that Helena was funny. Piper really liked her laugh. She felt happy just sitting there, talking to Helena.

Piper gathered all the courage she could muster and asked Helena if she had a boyfriend. Even though she was still confused about her newfound attraction to girls, she liked Helena and maybe, if Helena might possibly like her too, she could try how it would be to be with a girl?

Helena smiled. "Uhm, no I don't have a boyfriend."

Piper felt a bit relieved. But did Helena like girls or did she just not have a boyfriend right now and was maybe looking for one? Piper didn't have the courage to ask her that. But luckily Helena answered that unspoken question without being asked.

"I don't really like boys. So I won't ever be looking for a boyfriend." Helena said with a twinkle in her eye.

Piper blushed into a deep red. "Oh, okay."

"I'm making you uncomfortable, aren't I?" Helena asked now looking at her insecurely.

"Uhm, no. Actually not, it's, I'm, uh, I.." Piper didn't know what to say to her.

"You can leave if you don't feel comfortable. I won't take it personal or feel offended. But just because I offered." Helena said with a chuckle.

"I'm not uncomfortable. Just a little nervous to be honest. I, uh, think you are brave to just tell me that like that. I mean we just met and …" Piper stopped, not sure how to go on.

"Why do you think it is brave for me to say that?" Helena looked at her curiously.

"Well, if not brave, then confident. I mean, there are quiet some people out there not being so open minded about gay people, you know?" Piper was getting even more nervous, if that was even possible.

"I don't care about other people." Helena replied.

"Oh, okay."

"Oh, that came out wrong" Helena tried to correct. "I do care about other people, but that is limited to family and friends. I don't really care what the rest says or thinks."

"Yeah, you didn't seem like a person who doesn't care about anyone."

"Thanks, I'm actually a nice person" Helena laughed.

Piper had to smile. "Do you mind if I ask you some questions?"

"No, not at all. I'm just not gonna answer if I don't like to answer."

"That's okay. I mean how did you notice that you like girls?"

"Oh, right into it. Straightforward, aren't you? Oh well, I had a bad crush on a girl, when I was about 13. So I first thought maybe I'm gay or bi. But I haven't ever been interested in any boy so, that erases the bi part…."

Piper again blushed a little. "Uhm, I just asked about a boyfriend, adjusting that I'd like to ask now if you got a girlfriend."

Helena laughed out loud. "Uh, I don't. Why are you asking all these questions? Are you just curious or what is this about?"

Piper's face couldn't turn any darker shade of red than after Helena's reply. What had she gotten herself into?

"I, um, I, oh my god, I'm sorry for stuttering around. I am still a bit confused about all this, but I" now it was the alcohol she had had that made her brave "think I like you. Like I have this weird tingling in my stomach when you smile and I haven't felt like this with any other girl before, especially as we just met like, how long ago? I'm probably making the biggest fool out of myself right now so I'm just gonna stop rambling." Piper said very fast and then went silent, being a little out of breath from telling Helena everything pretty fast.

Helena smiled. "Oh, okay. My god, you're cute! And brave, telling me all this." "And a little bit drunk" Piper added which made Helena laugh and gave Piper that tingly feeling again. "And I think you are cute. I've been watching you at the party for a while. You were the only girl who got me interested in the whole crowd out there. If you want we could go out sometime. I would like to get to know you."

"Really?" Piper was surprised.

"Yes, really. I know what you're going through, so if you want I can help you with the confusion. But I think I like you and if you want we could give it a try." Helena answered sounding very sincere.

"I would like that very much." Piper replied hoping her face would soon go back to normal skin colour.

"Sweet. Have you ever kissed a girl before?" Helena asked. Shook her head no. "We can take this as fast or slow, however you want."

Piper smiled at her. "Thank you"

Helena stepped closer and slowly leaned in. Piper stepped closer too getting closer to Helena making their noses touch. As soon as she tilted her head a little to the side Helena kissed her sweetly and Piper felt sparks in her whole body.

**END OF FLASHBACK**


	7. Chapter 7 And how it all went wrong

Chapter 7: And how it all went wrong

Alex sat there for a bit after Piper finished and didn't say anything. Piper started grinning.

"Not quite what you expected, was it?" she laughed.

"No, I have to admit I really didn't see that coming. So your first relationship was with a girl?" now Alex was even more curious and fascinated by the blonde. She hadn't dared to hope that after Piper told her about the boyfriend thing, that she liked girls, too.

"Yes. I mean before that party I also had crushes on boys and the one or other make out session with some I went on a few dates with, but it wasn't really anywhere near a relationship. And with Helena it was different. I was really in love, not just some crush and we actually had a relationship. We've actually been together for about 8 months I think." Piper told her.

"Wow. I really didn't expect that. But great story. My turn to buy you a drink. What do you want?" Alex smiled admitting her defeat.

"I'll have a margarita." Piper said.

"Okay." Alex ordered the drinks. "If it doesn't go too far, how did things end between you and her?"

"Oh, another quite long story, actually." Piper replied.

"Come on, I told you how I got dumped for a water-skier, it's just fair!" Alex tried to make her tell the story.

"Okay okay." Piper gave in and told her the story about how it all ended.

**FLASHBACK**

Piper and Helena had been a couple for a while already, but she still hadn't had the courage to tell her parents about being attracted to girls. To be honest she hadn't told anyone. Everyone who saw her with Helena thought they were close friends. Some probably assumed that there was something going on between the two of them as Helena wasn't as secretive as Piper about her sexual orientation but Piper didn't care about those as she shrugged them off as rumours.

Helena had complained the one or other time that they should just make it official so their relationship wouldn't be a secret anymore. But Piper was terrified by the thought that her parents could find out. She had no idea how they would react and she wasn't keen on finding out any time soon.

One weekend, when her parents were away for a short trip to their lake house and her brothers were visiting friends, Helena was staying over at Piper's house. They were having a great time, just talking, watching movies and making out in between.

Saturday afternoon they decided to make a cake. They had been in their pyjamas the whole day and weren't planning on changing into normal clothes for the rest of the day either.

The girls were giggling and mixing up the ingredients for the cake. Piper read from the recipe and told Helena what to put in. When the dough was ready they searched for the right backing dish to put it into. As Helena wasn't watching Piper took a bit of dough, sneaked up to Helena and smudged it on her nose. Helena screamed in surprise.

"Oh, you. Wait for it." she laughed sprinting towards Piper who after a short moment of shock ducked her skillfully and ran, closely being chased by Helena. "I'll get you" Helena exclaimed. Piper was still out of Helena's reach but she was getting closer.

Their little chase ended in the living room, when Piper stumbled over the edge of the couch and fell onto it. Helena followed and let herself fall onto the couch next to her girlfriend. Both girls were out of breath from laughing but still couldn't stop.

"I got you, dirty little girl" Helena laughed and gave Piper a kiss. They kissed and soon it turned more passionate and deeper. Shortly, to breathe they broke apart. Just in this second Piper heard keys in the front door.

"Oh shit. Who is that?" she cursed, suddenly getting up from the couch. Quickly the two girls went back to the kitchen, going on with their baking. Piper would rather be found in the kitchen baking with a friend in her pyjamas than making out with her on the couch if this were her parents coming back early.

And she guessed right. Just as the two of them had returned to their baking plans Carol and Bill Chapman walked into the kitchen accompanied by her younger brother Cal. Cal was now 14 and usually up to no good.

"Mom! Dad! What are you doing back here already? I thought you were coming back tomorrow." Piper tried to hide her surprise and nervousness.

"Piper Elizabeth Chapman! It is nearly 4 o'clock in the afternoon. What are you still doing in your sleepwear? This isn't a proper clothing for a young woman around this time of the day. You should know that! Haven't I taught you better?" her mother complained.

"Sorry, mom, we were just having a lazy day and trying to stay as comfortable as possible. I'll change when the cake is in the oven." Piper replied.

Just now Carol decided to answer her earlier question: "This young man here is the reason we had to come back early. Obviously he "experimented" with his friend in their bedroom and somehow set the bed on fire. Of course the Morrisons were not pleased about such behaviour from a guest. And I am neither. What did you think, Cal?"

Cal just grimaced but didn't answer. Carol didn't seem to be waiting for one anyway. Piper mouthed an angry "Thank you very much brother!" to Cal who didn't seem too bothered by it.

Now looking at Helena who was still standing next to Piper Carol asked: "And who is this young lady?"

"Uh, this is my friend Helena. She's in the year above me but helps me with some of my classes." Piper hurried to explain. She mouthed a "Sorry" to Helena, hoping her mother wouldn't notice.

"Okay young ladies. Finish that cake and get dressed. When it's done we can all have a coffee and some cake together. So please dress appropriately!" Carol said leaving the kitchen after eying the girls in their pyjamas up and down.

Cal stayed for a second longer. "Friend?" he whispered to Piper. "Nice hickey by the way! Impressive." he added and left. Piper's face turned dark red.

"Are you serious? A hickey? You know I haven't told anyone. What am I supposed to tell them where I got it from if they start asking about it?" Piper was mad.

"The truth?" was all Helena said.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna go over and be like 'Hey mom, you've been asking about my hickey? Yeah, Helena here isn't my friend as I told you. She's my girlfriend. So go ahead, cut me out of your will or don't pay for my college.' It isn't as easy as that! My parents aren't as tolerating as others. And me being with a girl? Is not tolerable for them" Piper ranted.

"I don't want to be your secret anymore, Piper. I don't want to hide this! I'm tired of it. I get that you're worried because of your parents reaction, but you can't let your parents dictate they way you live!" Helena was now getting upset too. "So I can't do this anymore. I'm gonna leave, if you change your mind about this come talk to me. If not, don't call me and let's just move on." Helena got up, quickly changed into normal clothes, gathered her stuff and was about to leave, when Carol Chapman came back into the kitchen.

"You're leaving already, Helena? I thought you were having coffee and cake with us?" Carol asked.

"No, sorry I have to leave. I forgot that my mom wanted me to be home by 4 and it's already 4.15. It was nice meeting you. Goodbye." she said and left.

Piper tried hard to keep her tears at bay and not cry in front of her mother because her 'friend' left early as Carol thought of the situation.

"Piper will you get changed? Put on some real clothes!" Carol complained and left.

The afternoon coffee with cake was a pain for Piper. She excused herself as early as possible and went to her room. All she wanted was to lie on her bed and cry. She felt truly heartbroken.

The next days were hard for Piper. She functioned, but was mostly running around in low spirits. She thought about her decision a lot. She missed Helena badly, but she really wasn't ready to tell her parents about it. So after a few days after Helena's leaving she decided, even though it hurt, she would need to move on and forget about Helena.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

"Oh wow." was all Alex said to that. "How old were you at that time?"

"I was 16. And yeah, it was hard, but as long as I still had my parents deciding about my future, I couldn't tell them. I mean they paid for my college and if they'd just cut me off, I surely couldn't have gone, so I just couldn't tell them." Piper told her sipping on the margarita that had arrived while she told her story.

"But your brother immediately knew." Alex laughed.

"Yeah, it was his fault in the first place, but he was way more attentive than my parents. Still is." Piper told her.

_Helly everyone. I won't be able to post any updates next week as I am away on holiday. Next update will be on March 4th I think. Maybe 5th. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. _


	8. Chapter 8 Dream a little dream

_Hey everyone. I'm back. I know the last chapters there hasn't been much happening since it has been mostly flashbacks. There won't be any flashbacks in the next chapters, so the story will continue, but there are more flashbacks in future chapters. I hope you enjoy this one.  
_

Chapter 8: Dream a little dream

"Okay it's nearly 10.30 and we have to be back for the workshop at 8 tomorrow. I don't want to ruin the evening, but if we want to get some sleep and not fall asleep in the middle of the course tomorrow, we should head back to the hotel." Piper noticed with a look at her watch.

"You're right, as much as I don't want to end this, I agree to getting some sleep." Alex said, trying to hide a yawn.

They went back to the hotel and said good night before going to their respective rooms. Piper was still too excited from how the day turned out even though she slowly was noticing what a long day it had been. She had been waking up at 5am, now it was nearly 11 pm and so many things had happened in between. She quickly got changed and ready for bed. As soon as she laid down she felt exhaustion overwhelming her and she soon fell asleep with a faint picture of a tall, black-haired, hot woman in her mind before dozing off.

XXXXX

When she woke at 6.30am and felt more recovered and relaxed as she thought she would after sleeping bit less than 7 hours. Also she remembered dreaming something. She slowly could see a picture of the hotel room she was staying in but she wasn't alone. She had dreamt that Alex was there with her. They were talking and kissing and much more and Piper blushed as she remembered the pictures she had just dreamt. She remembered that in her dream the place suddenly had switched to her place in New York, she was showing her apartment to Alex and they had fun and again Piper blushed as in her dream they ended up in the bedroom. Piper could not believe herself. She knew that woman for a day now. Yes - she was hot, funny and very interesting, and Piper definitely wanted to get to know her better - but a dream like that?! Now remembering that her last thoughts before she fell asleep were also about a tall, black-haired woman that she would see again today, she was not very surprised but still a little shocked.

She got up and got dressed. The two women had agreed to meet at the little café in the lobby for breakfast before they would go to the workshop together. Piper was excited to see the black-haired woman again but remembering her dream she tried to calm herself and decided to act like it didn't happen.

"Good Morning." Alex said and gave her a smile as she approached Piper who was waiting for her in the lobby.

"Good morning to you too. Did you sleep well?" Piper asked.

"Yes, indeed. How about you?" Alex replied.

"Uhm, good too. Thanks." Piper instantly regretted asking as she was blushing and couldn't look at Alex as her memory threw pictures of her dream at her.

"Are you okay? You seem so weird all of a second. How did my asking how you slept make you blush?" Alex wondered, deciding to test the blonde a little.

"I, uhm, oh, nothing. Shall we?" Piper stuttered.

"Okay." Alex looked at her curious, still wondering what made the blonde suddenly all nervous like that. The sat down in the café and ordered breakfast. Alex ordered a coffee with bacon and eggs while Piper decided for the omelet with mushrooms.

"I, uhm, had a weird dream, that's all." Piper blurted out.

"And that's the reason you can't look at me right now?" Alex chuckled. Suddenly she realized. "This wasn't just any dream, was it?"

Piper's face turned even darker. "As if this couldn't get any more embarrassing!" she mumbled.

"Maybe if you regain your ability to speak you could tell me about it. I'm curious. I mean, after all I was there if I assume right." Alex laughed, being amused by the blonde's sudden awkwardness.

"Okay. Yes, you assume right, I had a dream and you were there. You happy now?" Piper didn't want to seem rude or mad, but also didn't want to tell Alex all of her dream and at the same time not talk about it at all. "So what do you think will we do today? Yesterday Ms. Figueroa said today is not just about learning new theory but also for exchange of how we handled our business so far. Do you think it will be a kind of discussion?"

"I think we'll see. I guess it's just gonna be everyone tells about his company and maybe the rest will ask questions and stuff like that." Alex was amused by the blonde's sudden change of topic but decided to let it go.

"Yeah, you're right, we'll see." Piper said.

They ate their breakfast in silence for a while until Alex decided to break the silence: "So, still up for more sightseeing after the workshop?"

"Yes, of course." Piper smiled. "There is still so much to see."

"Great. I'm looking forward to this afternoon." Alex admitted.

"Yeah, me too." Piper smiled at her.

"Okay. We need to get going if we don't want to be late." Alex said, they got up and left the hotel.

They day went by pretty fast. The morning was spent with another presentation of Ms. Figueroa. For the lunch break they went again to the little bistro they had been the day before. Alex and Piper kept talking through all the breaks they made in between the presentations. In the afternoon the participants got another short chance to talk about their start-ups and how they started it and how far and big it was at the moment and what their plans were for the next weeks, months and years. The rest of the group could ask questions after that and also give their sight on the progress so far.

It was around 4pm when they finished for the day. The afternoon was long-drawn-out and Piper just hoped for it to end as she was really excited for the afternoon with Alex. She tried to remind herself that the priority of this trip was PoPi, her business, her baby, that she built with so much effort with her best friend. She couldn't let Polly down. Her best friend would never let her hear the end of it if she messed this up.

_I know it has been a short chapter. The next ones will be longer. _


	9. Chapter 9 Dogs in parks

Chapter 9: Dogs in parks

Alex and Piper met at the exit and left the building.

"Where to first?" Alex asked.

Piper thought for a second. "How about we walk down the National Mall for a bit and decide on the way where we want to stop? I really need a bit of movement after sitting most of the day." Piper told her.

"Yeah, I'm okay with that. So, was the day what you expected?" Alex asked.

"I'm actually pretty satisfied with the outcome so far, yeah. I think Polly will be too." Piper said.

"Why didn't she come too? You both could have worked together on your project here and not tell her what you learned after you return?" Alex wanted to know.

"Well, the number of participants was limited and it was almost full already. Besides, we decided as it was a business trip, to pay the workshop fee with the company's money and not from our own pockets. As PoPi isn't that big yet, we just couldn't afford going both. So on thursday I'm just gonna tell her everything we did and then we can go from there." Piper explained. "How about you? Did you learn what you came for or are you hoping that will be covered tomorrow?"

"I think so far we've had a lot that I need to think about and consider once I'm back at work, so yes, I learned quite a bit so far. I'm still curious what will be the outcome of tomorrows "group work" and what exactly that will be." Alex told her.

Suddenly Piper laughed.

"What is so funny about that?" Alex was surprised.

"Oh, sorry I'm not laughing about you. I've been listening though. It's just, do you see that man in the green vest over there, with the dog?" Alex nodded. "He called his dog, the dog didn't react at all but instead jumped in this giant puddle and rolled around. The dog literally soaked up all the dirt and water from the puddle, went over to his still calling owner and while standing next to him shook all the water and dirt off and onto his owner who has been cursing since it happened. Sorry I just couldn't contain the laughter." Piper chuckled.

"So you're laughing about other people's misery?" Alex joined her laughter. "Okay, what you told me seems kinda funny to watch though. Guess they both need a shower now."

They went on walking, stopping at a few memorials and taking some pictures and also had a few strangers take pictures of both of them in front of some of the sights. Later it started to rain and they decided to visit one of the museums. They walked through the museum and both commented on some of the exhibits. They noticed that they had similar tastes in art and what they liked and disliked.

When it became dinner time they decided to look for a restaurant and found a little italian that looked cozy and inviting.

"So. I had a really fun time this afternoon." Piper told Alex when they sat down.

"Yeah, me too. Especially the walk through the park and our conversation. Do you know those situations where you are talking with someone and every now and then this awkward silence comes up and you try to think really hard what you could say? I hate those situations. But with you it's really the opposite. If there is a silent moment it isn't awkward and I don't have to rack my brain about what to say next or what to talk about. I got the feeling I could talk to you about everything and we'd never run out of stuff to talk about. It's weird. We've just known each other for two days but somehow I feel like you're so familiar already." Alex told Piper quietly, hoping the blonde wouldn't feel awkward now.

"I know what you mean. I do hate these situations too. And I am really happy that it's nothing like that with you. It's weird how fast I feel like I've known you for longer than those two days already." Piper was amazed by Alex's 'confession' but felt happy about the connection the two women already had after only two days.

They ordered and kept talking about some memories from their pasts. Piper learnt that Alex grew up with only her mother, she didn't have siblings, her dad abandoned them when she wasn't even born yet and that her mother had worked very hard to keep Alex healthy and fed, but that they had a very special and strong mother-daughter relationship. Piper told Alex that with her mother it had been the opposite rather. That her mother was there but only ever interested in the image the family gave away. Not genuinely interested in her kids feelings, fears or worries. They had to have good grades and be the good poster child that showed they were the perfect average family. The expectations always had been high and that Piper never had the feeling of being able to live up to them and do as her parents expected.

"That must have been hard." Alex said with empathy.

"Yeah. I don't want to say we got used to it, but this is how we grew up. And for a while I tried so many things so that maybe one day my parents would say they're proud of me. But I guess I just did what they expected and never exceeded them and so it never happened. At some point I gave up trying and life got so much easier. But enough about me and my not so perfect relationship with my parents." Piper said, not wanting to ruin the mood further.

They both talked and laughed until they noticed it had become rather late and they should head back to the hotel. After all they had another full day ahead of them tomorrow. They paid and slowly walked back.

"I am kind of sad that it ends tomorrow. This is the last night in Washington." Piper said.

"Well the workshop ends tomorrow. And I am totally okay with that. I mean we covered everything I wanted to know and we still have another day ahead of us." Alex noted, carefully adding "We could still meet, seeing that we do live really close in New York, if you want that?"

"Yes, of course. I'd love to." Piper's face lit up with joy.

Alex's face showed an expression of relieve after Piper's very enthusiastic answer. She really wanted to see the blonde again and maybe if she gathered her courage she'd ask her out on a date.

They got to the hotel and walked in still deep in conversation. They stopped in front of Alex's room.

"So, this is my room. I don't really want to call it a night, but we both have to get up early again and need some sleep." Alex admitted.

"Yeah, you're right." Piper answered. "So I guess this is good night then."

"Good night." Alex smiled at her.

Piper turned to leave and go to her room when she heard a "Wait, Piper!" and turned around.

"Yeah?" she looked at Alex curiously.

"Uh, how do you get back to New York tomorrow?" Alex asked.

"I haven't booked anything yet. I wasn't sure when exactly it would end so I thought I'd just go to the train station after we finished and get a ticket for a train then." Piper replied.

"Want some company on the train ride?" Alex asked with a little chuckle.

"No. I don't want just some company on the train ride. Yours would be nice though." Piper grinned.

Alex let out a laughter. "Okay. I'm looking forward to that train ride."

"Night then." Piper said and turned to leave again.

"Night."

Piper walked a few steps when again. "Piper, wait a second."

She laughed and turned around noticing Alex had followed her and came closer. They stood very close to each other for a second before Alex moved even closer and kissed her. The kiss was soft and cautious at first but soon filled with emotion. When Alex pulled back both women smiled widely.

"Now it's good night."

"The best so far." Piper said.

Walking to her own hotel room Piper couldn't wipe the smile from her face. She was all giggly and excited and now started to wonder how long it would take her to calm down and fall asleep. If she could ever fall asleep tonight.

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Have a great International Women's Day everyone._


	10. Chapter 10 Returning home

Chapter 10: Returning home

The next morning they both met again for breakfast down in the lobby. They smiled at each other widely as soon as they saw each other.

"Good morning, Pipes." Alex greeted her.

"Good Morning, Alex." Piper smiled hearing her new nickname.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, took me a while to fall asleep though." Piper grinned.

"Yeah me too." Alex smiled at her.

They ate breakfast, checked out of the hotel and walked taking their luggage with them to the workshop.

XXXXX

They had spent the whole day until 4pm, only interrupted by the lunch break at the bistro, discussing their companies, adapting what they learnt the last days to their business and summarizing what they had learnt in those three days. The whole time Piper and Alex were smiling and couldn't stop catching a glimpse of each other earning the two women some curious glances from other participants.

"I gotta say I'm pretty exhausted after those three days." Piper admitted when they sat down in the train heading towards New York. They had found four seats where they could sit opposite of each other and still had enough space for their suitcases.

"Yeah, me too. But I really enjoyed it." Alex smiled at her.

"Those were three full days. I enjoyed it too. Mostly the afternoons though." Piper grinned.

Alex smiled. "Uhm, do you have plans for the weekend already?" she asked suddenly getting a little nervous.

"Not yet. But I guess soon." Piper answered.

"I was thinking maybe we could go out for a drink? There is this nice little bar that I like going to. It actually should be close to your place if I'm right. It's called The Liquid Temptation? Do you happen to know this bar?" Alex wanted to know.

"Are you kidding me? Seriously! How did we not meet before? This is so weird. I do know the place. I go there with Polly all the time. Basically whenever we feel like a night out. I even met Polly at this bar!" Piper was bewildered.

"Really? It's really weird then we didn't run into each other yet. I'm sure I'd remember you. Wait - you met your best friend in a bar? I never thought bars really a place you meet friends. Like make friends when meeting someone there the first time." Alex was surprised.

"Yeah, we both had had a really bad day, shared each other's misery and kind of bonded over that." Piper said and told her the story of how she and Polly met.

**FLASHBACK**

What a day. It's not like it was her first break-up, but it sucked though every time she had to go through one. Not that there had been that many, but still.

After being dumped for what seemed to her as minor reasons for a break-up, Piper decided to go to a bar. Lucky for her there was one right down the street from her apartment. "The Liquid Temptation" was the name of the bar. Piper was amused by the name, as she thought the name was weirdly fitting, I mean why else would you go to a bar than to give in to the liquid temptation, to drink, or sometimes better get drunk?

Piper didn't put too much effort in her outfit, as she left her place. She didn't want to draw too much attention to herself. She wasn't there to pick someone up, now was she? All she wanted was to drown the pain from the break-up in a few drinks. She didn't feel like meeting someone new or having a one night stand that evening.

She was surprised that the bar was pretty full already when she walked in. After all it was the middle of the week, a regular tuesday. She took one of the last stools at the bar and ordered herself a long island iced tea.

She looked around for a while. In the corner of the bar sat a couple, talking, smiling at each other, just being happy. 'Ugh, I don't want to see happy people today, I don't feel like that at all' Piper thought. She let her eyes wander through the room further and saw all kinds of people. Many were talking to presumably friends/ partners they came with, but also quite a few people like her, who seemed to be here by themselves.

Right next to her sat a short brunette, seemingly in deep thought, sipping on a margarita.

Just as she was about to pick up her drink and take the first sip, she noticed a young man eyeing her up and down. Piper shortly watched him unobtrusively and thought 'He thinks he is subtle, but who the heck would not notice that?'

He came closer and said: "You must work in a library."

Piper said nothing looking at him, slightly amused. 'Oh, where does he get that idea from?'

When she didn't reply he added: "Because you increased my circulation."

Piper tried not to laugh, but just couldn't contain herself. "I'm sorry, but this line is just ridiculous!"

"Hi, I'm Andrew and I surely hope you don't judge people by their choice of pick-up line."

Piper was still a bit amused, but tried to acknowledge his efforts.

"Hi Andrew, no usually I don't, but I don't even know what to reply to something like that."

"Ah, I get it, if I think about it, me neither." He gave her an apologetic smile and continued.

"How about you tell me your name first and then maybe we could talk a bit and I'd like to buy you your next drink, when you finished this one?!"

"Okay Andrew, I'm sorry, you seem like a nice guy, but I'm really not interested in meeting anyone right now. Not about you personally. I got too much going on at the moment anyway." Piper replied.

Andrew looked a bit shocked and sad, but quickly recovered and said: "Okay. Nice evening then." And turned to leave.

His eyes fell on the brunette sitting next to her and he approached her. Piper watched his next steps with interest and still slightly amused.

"Are you a campfire?" he asked the brunette next to her. She looked confused and puzzled. "Because you're hot and I want s'more."

The brunette looked like she was about to cry. Piper wondered why someone would nearly cry because of some stupid pick-up line. But she felt sorry for the other woman and a little bewildered about Andrew's choice to go for the person right next to the last he hit on.

"You really are a fountain of bad pick-up lines" Piper commented his next try at hitting at someone. "If you don't want to be judged by bad pick-up lines, you might want to get some new ones, because this one, I can't even decide if it's equally bad or actually worse than the one you used on me."

Andrew's face turned red and he just said: "Well as you rejected to even give me your name or start a conversation I might as well try my luck with someone else. So if you don't mind!" He turned back to the brunette.

"Good luck with those pick-up lines." Piper murmured.

Finally the brunette next to her spoke up. "I'm sorry but she is totally right. Those two lines were horribly. Come back if you got something better." she said, murmuring "or just don't come back" right after she finished saying the rest out loud.

He looked a little annoyed but finally decided to give up and just leave.

"Oh my god" mouthed Piper, not sure if she should laugh or just be annoyed.

"Thanks, by the way" the brunette said to Piper.

"Don't mention it. Girls gotta help each other out, right?" she replied. "Besides, not to pace you, you looked like you were about to cry."

"Ugh yeah, sorry, I had a really bad day. Like the worst." the brunette complained.

"Yeah, me too. I'm Piper, by the way."

"Polly" the brunette replied.

"Wanna talk about it? I know I am a stranger, but that sometimes helps?!" Piper offered, hoping she found someone she could talk to.

"I don't know. I don't wanna ruin anyone's evening with my love life drama." Polly said.

"Oh you're not. We can exchange stories. I don't know whose story is worse, but at least we got it out there instead of keeping it in and chewing on it for the rest of the evening."

"Yeah, you're probably right"

"So. Say whoever got the less painful story buys the other one a drink?" Piper tried to get the other woman to talk.

"Okay. Do you mind if I start?" Polly asked.

"Not at all"

"Okay. I was supposed to go to an event from work, but those usually are really boring. But I could not not go, you know?" Piper nodded. "So I decided to go for a little while and then if it is really as boring as I thought it would be, I'd just go home earlier. " Polly stopped.

"And it was boring?" Piper wanted to know.

"Yes, just as I had predicted it." Polly went on. "So I decided I'd just head back home after a little talk with my coworkers. I knew my boyfriend was at home, so I thought maybe we could you know, watch some movie and have a nice evening. When I arrived home and got into our apartment I heard some noises. You know - sex noises. But as our walls in our apartment are really thin, I thought it might come from one of our neighbours. And yes, I know hearing your neighbours doing it is no fun - we've been looking for a new apartment for a while now already. So I didn't think of anything bad, I was about to make some stupid comment to my boyfriend about it, actually. I went looking t for him, wanted to ask him, if he wanted to see a movie and chill on the couch. I finally found him. In our bed. With our neighbor."

"Oh, shit" Piper exclaimed. "But your neighbour-theory was right." she tried to enlighten the mood a little. Polly snorted.

"Yeah, I guess. So yeah, that's the story. We've been together for almost five years now. I was thinking he could be the one, you know? But I guess I wasn't the one for him." Polly said, now seriously close to crying.

"I'm so sorry to hear that. That is just awful. What an asshole!" Piper cursed.

"Mhm. Your story that bad, too? And you were right. It feels good to tell someone." Polly said, holding back a sob. She took a sip from her drink. "But the drink really helps too!" That earned her a chuckle from Piper.

"Ehh, no. I think I'm buying you a drink. But you should finish this one first." Piper replied.

"You still gotta tell your story. I told you about my horrible day and now it's your turn."

"I know. But my story is by far not as bad as yours. It was just an awful day." Piper started. "First, this morning my coffee machine broke. Without good reason…And I really need my coffee in the morning. So as it was broken I went to the next coffee shop. Of course the line at the shop was horrendous. Some stranger started talking to me about how bad the coffee was in this and other places and about some conspiracy theories that I really didn't want to hear. Of course, with the long queue and the annoying man still talking to me after I got my coffee and left the shop, I got in late for work. My boss obviously had had a bad morning too and gave me a warning because I was, as he said, repeatedly late. It was my first time that I came to the office too late, but he doesn't care. So I finally got to work. My coworker called in sick today, but as we had an urgent project to finish, I had to do his parts too. Being at the edge of my sanity for today, my boyfriend wanted to talk, right as I entered our apartment. As it sounded it was a rather serious talk, so I asked him, if we could talk tomorrow. But he just went on about he was unhappy and moving out. So out of nowhere, complete unexpected, he breaks up with me. And I still don't have a clue why. I mean after a relationship of nearly three years you don't just run, do you? You try to fix things, right? Anyway. This was my crappy day."

Polly sat there quiet, not knowing what to reply.

"But still, with all those things listed, I believe your day was worse." Piper stated.

"I'm not so sure. Yours sounded pretty horrible, too." Polly chuckled.

"Okay, I'm still buying the next round, let's both get drunk!" Piper said, as if it was a made decision.

"To bad days and bad boyfriends" Polly raised her glass.

"To bad days and hopefully better boyfriends in the future." Piper raised her glass too, they clinked their glasses and finished their drinks.

After this conversation, the evening went on uneventful. Piper and Polly went on chatting about their lives, miserable relationships and expectations they didn't want to meet. Of course the alcohol kept flowing, so at the end of the night they both were more than a bit inebriated. They exchanged numbers and kept texting and meeting the following weeks and eventually became friends.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

"That is quite a story." Alex said "But that person was really annoying. I don't know if I had stayed as cool as you. And those boyfriends of yours and your friends' were obviously complete assholes."

_++Hey. I know some hoped that more would happen on the train ride, but the flashback did fit perfectly in here. And You can look forward to their first date! There aren't that many flashbacks to come. The next chapters there won't be any, I think.++_


	11. Chapter 11 Blame it on the moon

Chapter 11: Blame it on the moon

Not so much later they arrived in New York. They decided to share an uber that dropped off Piper first and then Alex a bit later.

They were standing in front of Piper's apartment-building about to say goodbye for now.

"I had really great three days. I enjoyed spending time with you." Alex silently admitted, feeling sad.

"Yeah, me too. I'm so glad that we live so close to each other so we can see each other more easily. Cause I'd really like to see you again and get to know you better." Piper said.

It warmed Alex's heart to hear the blonde say that. "Yeah, me too. Also, you already agreed on going out with me on saturday to our favourite bar." She smiled.

"Indeed I did. So see you on saturday?" Piper smiled back at her, with a little sadness in her eyes.

"Yes. I'll text you about the time, if that's okay?" Alex said.

"Sure." 'What are you waiting for, Piper, just kiss her!' she scolded herself.

Piper took a step closer to Alex who also stepped towards her. They met in the middle and leaned in. Their kiss was soft and playful. Piper felt her whole body tingle and it felt so good.

When they parted both women smiled and looked so happy.

"See you Saturday." Alex said one more time, got in the car and then she was gone.

Piper suddenly had this empty feeling. She felt sad and wondered how it was possible she already missed the black-haired woman after just having said goodbye to her. She got out of her little trance and made her way to her apartment. She unpacked her bags and fell with the back on her bed, her legs hanging off at the side. For a while she laid there in silence thinking back to those three days and how everything went so fast. About Alex and the connection they already had. In the middle of her thoughts her phone beeped. 'Alex texting me already so soon?' Piper wondered and looked excitedly at her phone, seeing that it was Polly who had texted her.

[Polly: Back already? How was it?]

Piper quickly typed a short reply and fell back on her bed. Soon she felt like it got so quiet around that she turned on the radio. Her thoughts returned to Alex and how she could fall so fast for someone she barely knew. And yes, Piper had to admit to herself that she slowly started to fall in love with the black-haired beauty. Just then she realized the song that was playing on the radio and thought this could definitely be the soundtrack of her current life and situation. She just lied there and listened.

_Gonna blame it on the moon_

_Didn't want to fall in love again so soon_

_I was fine, feeling strong_

_Didn't want to fall in love with anyone_

_Now that it's gone too far to call for a halt_

_I'll blame it on the moon_

_'Cause it's not my fault_

_I didn't think I'd this would happen so soon_

_So I'll blame it on the moon_

_I was happy to be free_

_Didn't think I'd give myself so easily_

_Guilty feelings in the night_

_As I wonder is it wrong to feel so right_

_Now that it's gone too far to call for a halt_

_I'll blame it on the moon_

_'Cause it's not my fault_

_I didn't think that this would happen so soon_

_So I'll blame it on the moon_

_Now that it's gone too far to call for a halt_

_I'll blame it on the moon_

_'Cause it's not my fault_

_I didn't think that this would happen so soon_

_So I'll blame it on the moon_

_So I'll blame it on the moon_

The singer had a beautiful voice she thought, completely drowning in the song, feeling all happy and content as the song really hit everything she felt right now. With that happy and content feeling she dozed off.

XXXXX

"You didn't even text me once." Polly complained the next morning when Piper arrived at her place to start their morning with Piper sharing what she learned from the workshop. She had come a little later, as a bonus of doing the business trip the last days. She'd be working with Polly in the morning and then in the afternoon go to the restaurant where she worked as a waitress, which she hoped she wouldn't be doing for long anymore.

"I'm sorry, I was busy learning for the both of us and actually had a great time with other participants. I mean while I'm there I am allowed to see some sights, aren't I?" Piper replied annoyed.

"Yeah, but texting costs you like half a minute. Couldn't spare that?" Polly wondered.

"I already said sorry, Pol. I don't want to start my first day back fighting with you. So truce?" Piper asked.

"Okay. It's nice to have you back. It's been boring and lonely those days without you. But it seems like you had a good time." Polly remarked. "So how do we improve our business, tell me everything."

Piper filled her in on all the business stuff that she learned but let out the afternoons and exploring the city with Alex.

"You seem very enthusiastic. I love that." Polly said.

They spent the rest of the morning discussing the workshop and the possible improvements on PoPi until it got about time for Piper to get ready for her shift at the restaurant.

"So, after all the business talk. How are you? You good after the break up from Larry?" Polly asked.

'Oh if she knew' Piper thought but decided not to tell Polly anything yet. "I'm good. Really. I still think it was a really good decision and I feel happy with myself. No regrets so far."

"Okay. Want to go out this weekend? Ladies night?" Polly looked at her, her eyes pleading her to say yes.

"Why not? Friday evening okay with you?" Piper hoped Polly didn't insist on saturday and ask questions when she couldn't make saturday.

"Yeah okay. Same place as always, around 7ish?"

"Yes. I'll be there." Piper happily replied.

"Great."

XXXXX

The days passed slowly. Piper was impatiently awaiting saturday and the text from Alex when they'd meet. She still hadn't told Polly about meeting someone that she was extremely interested in. She thought that Polly might say it is way too soon to start a new relationship and sometimes Piper felt exactly like that too. Thinking that maybe it was good she hadn't heard from Alex yet and that it was way too soon. But it felt so good, she really felt a connection to the black-haired woman. And she had to admit that she just couldn't turn her attraction to her off. So she told herself that even if it was very soon, if it felt that good she didn't care about too soon.

**Alex's POV**

She got home from her business trip pretty late. She felt exhausted but also still excited. Piper Chapman. Who would have thought she would meet someone so hot and sweet at a business trip? She chuckled. 'I guess you never know where you meet someone you might like.'

She was about to get ready to go to bed when she heard her phone ring. For a second she thought it might be Piper, rather hoped it would be the blonde. Then she remembered, the blonde gave Alex her number but she didn't have hers. So it would be up to her to reestablish the first contact back in the city. She looked on her phone and saw it was her mom. They hadn't spoken in a few days and that had been a rather long time with no contact between the mother and daughter.

"Hey ma." Alex answered the phone.

"Hi, my smart daughter. It has been a while." Diane answered.

"Only a few days mom." Alex chuckled.

"Long enough. How was your business trip?"

"It was good. I learned quite a few things and had a great time in Washington. I got to see quite a few things."

"That sounds amazing. You sound all excited. Did you learn helpful things for you café?"

"Yes, I did learn quite a few things. Also the city is great. Once I got them sorted I can show you some pictures."

"Sure. I'd love that. I'd like to see you again some of these days, Alex. It has been way too long since your last visit."

"I'll come visit soon, I promise. There's just still so much to do here."

"So. Great trip. I feel like there is more to it. What aren't you telling me?" Diane laughed on the other side of the line.

Oh great. Again proved: Alex couldn't keep any secret from her mom. She thought she sounded 'normal' like the other times they spoke on the phone.

"Uhm, nothing. Why would you think that?"

"Come on Ally. You never got excited like that about a business trip. And you sound all happy and excited, even though it is pretty late. Oh, I got it. You met someone, didn't you?" the happy surprise in Diane's voice wasn't to be overheard.

"Mom. Can't I sound happy cause I'm talking to you? It's great hearing from you again after what you said yourself has been a while." Alex tried but secretly knew she couldn't fool her mother.

"Oh stop it. Now I am even more sure there is someone. I'm just happy for you. Don't try to fool me. I can read you like an open book. You keep forgetting that, honey. So who is she?"

"You're the worst, mom, do you know that?" Alex chuckled. "Okay. I can't tell you much, I literally just met her. She was one of the other participants. We talked in the lunch break on the first day and decided to go sightseeing together after the workshop ended. Funny coincidence that we stayed in the same hotel. She is from New York, too. Just two subway stops from where I live actually. She is starting a soap business with her friend and was at the workshop for that reason. She likes the same things as I do and talking to her and being around her is just so easy. And her name is Piper." It just flowed out of Alex. She knew once she started, she couldn't hold anything back from her mom. They always had shared almost everything. Her mom wasn't just the best mother she could ask for, but also her best friend whom she could tell everything.

"Oh, You can't tell me much, huh? This is quite a lot, Ally. You seem to really like her. I'm so happy for you. And I want to meet her as soon as you're ready for it. Anyone who makes my Ally gush over her like that after spending three days together must be very special." Diane said sounding very happy.

"Yes I do like her. I can't believe it myself how everything went so fast. I never had those feelings so fast and unexpected. I mean three days is like nothing. And you'll meet her when it is time. Let's just wait and see if she wants to see me again." Alex said.

"Oh I'm sure she will. It sounded like you two already made a connection. Do you have anything planned yet to see her again?"

"We said we would meet on saturday at a bar we both like. Funny that we haven't met there before."

"That sounds great. Oh I'm so happy for you. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you again. You're such a great woman. And if she can't see that she isn't the one for you, my dear."

"Thanks mom." Alex was happy about her mom's words.

"So. I'm gonna go to bed now. It's really late and as much as I'd like to keep talking to you, I need some sleep. Goodnight, Ally. Call me soon and keep me updated on your date with Piper. I love you."

"I will. I love you, too, mom. Goodnight." Alex said and hung up the phone. She was so happy she and her mom had such a great relationship.

With a happy feeling after her conversation with her mother Alex fell asleep.

_The song used here is Katie Melua - Blame it on the moon. Great singer with an amazing voice._


	12. Chapter 12 The Liquid Temptation

Chapter 12: The Liquid Temptation

It was friday evening and Piper was out with Polly at their favourite bar. She would be here again tomorrow but she still didn't say anything about Alex yet.

"Hey Piper." Polly said as she sat down next to the blonde who had just arrived a couple minutes prior.

"Hi Pol. How are you?"

"Good. You?"

"Same. Have you reached the guys from the storage place?" Piper asked.

"No I haven't and no business on our night out, you remember the rules?" Polly told her.

"I do. But I was curious. It means a lot, we need this space. But okay. No business. How are things with you and Pete going? It's four months now isn't it?"

"Three and a half. And they're good. Sometimes he is so cute, so attentive. Like two weeks ago when we were together for three months he brought me a single marguerite and a pack of hot chocolate. Because we first met at that flower store where he had no plan what to get when he was asked to bring the flowers for a friend's mom's birthday and asked the next person - which was me - for help. I helped him pick a bouquet which the friend's mom really happened to like as it turned out. As a thank you he wanted to buy me a flower and I decided for a marguerite. For our first date we went to this cafe and I had a hot chocolate. So this was really cute."

"That is nice to remember and very attentive, you're right. Sounds really good. You haven't told me about that and that was two weeks ago?"

"Yeah, we had so much business stuff and you were away for three days. Other days he just doesn't seem to care at all. That's the part I don't get. I mean, he is so attentive and then other days so completely the opposite."

"Everyone has bad days. Maybe those are his?!" Piper tried.

"Yeah, maybe. But it's okay. How are you now close to a week after your break up from Larry?"

"Oh, I'm good actually. It was my decision. I was prepared to do this, remember? I still don't regret it." 'Quite the opposite actually.' she thought but didn't tell Polly.

"So you're enjoying your being single time for now?"

"I guess, yeah. Remember I told you, no guys for me for a while." Piper told her making sure not to go into a general no relationships stating. She wouldn't break that promise if things with Alex got closer.

"Still serious about that, huh?"

"Yes. Very much so."

"Okay. I'll take your word for it. I am going to make sure you'll regret it if you break that promise." Polly said very seriously.

"Okay. I'll make sure I won't break it then." Piper replied when her phone signaled an incoming message.

[Alex: Hey. This is Alex. Still ready to go out tomorrow? Want to meet me at the bar at 7?]

Piper smiled. She had been waiting for that text the whole two days it had been since she last saw Alex. What she wasn't prepared for was a punch in her upper arm from her best friend.

"Hey, what was that for?" she looked at Polly angrily.

"For breaking that promise right when we spoke about it." Polly exclaimed.

"I am not!" Piper said.

"Oh come on. I know that goofy smile."

"It's not like that! That text was from one of the other participants from the workshop. We've been sightseeing together and got along well. She told me about this story from a friend, where she forgot a detail which made the story funny. You know when that happens? When you want to tell a funny story and suddenly you can't remember the relevant part of the story? She just texted me about that thing she couldn't remember and now the story is in fact funny. So that was why I was smiling. No breaking of promises here." Piper was surprised how easily she could lie to her best friend. But she really couldn't tell her everything yet.

"Okay. I'm sorry. I'm taking back the accusations." Polly seemed satisfied with the explanation.

[Piper: Hey Alex. Yes, I am more than ready. I'll see you at 7. I am excited to see you again.]

"Thanks. See I don't have any plans to break my promise."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry Piper. I just tried to be a good friend and protect you from a mistake you don't want to make. I know you'd be bummed if you broke your promise so soon. The exception of course being if you met Mr. Right and it would click instantly. I would say that would be the only possibility I would let you break that promise." Polly explained.

"Are you serious about that? Mr. Right? Do you believe in what you just said?" Piper laughed.

"I do believe that there is someone who is 'The One' out there. Yes. If we're are ever so lucky to meet them? I don't know. But I know for sure if you meet that person, don't ever let go." Polly told her.

"How do you know it is 'The One'?" Piper wanted to know.

"I think you just know it. You feel things you haven't felt before. At least that is how I imagine it."

"So Pete isn't 'The One'?" Piper laughed.

"I don't know yet. Maybe that takes some time to realize? Who knows?" Polly seemed sincere about her view.

"Okay. I think that is a nice imagination, to think there is a soulmate out there that happens to accept you with everything you are and that makes you happy. I'm not sure about the 'The One' thing. I don't believe there is just one perfect partner for everyone. I mean what are the chances of those two people meeting? That would be ridiculous, don't you think? Nobody would have a happy marriage." Piper concluded.

"I don't know how the universe works, Piper. But I think, or at least hope that there is someone out there who makes you happy beyond measure."

"I hope so." Piper quietly replied but Polly didn't hear her.

They kept talking for a while about weekend plans and Polly's upcoming birthday. They left the bar to go home around 11pm, both happy they could sleep in the next day and have a relaxed saturday.

When Piper was home she undressed and got changed into her pyjamas. She tried to read a bit trying to calm down from the day, but couldn't concentrate on what she was reading. Her mind was wandering off to the tall and attractive black-haired woman she would see on their date the next day. She still wanted to know so many things about Alex. After a while tiredness and exhaustion overcame her and she fell asleep.

She spent the morning cleaning and running some errands. In the afternoon she started to wonder what she should wear for her date. She showered and got ready. But still after trying different outfits she wasn't satisfied with her choices shortly before it was time to leave.

"Why are you so picky today?" she asked herself. This wasn't about the first impression anymore. She had spent three days exploring Washington with Alex and now she was nervous as this was a first date with a crush she had been secretly in love with for years. She eventually decided for one of her evening dresses in which she thought she looked hot but not in a pushy kind of way.

_Hey. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next update will be next monday instead of friday. _


	13. Chapter 13 The Date

_Hey, everyone. I know this chapter is short. But the date will be in the next chapters too. Also: I've created a poll with different choices of hor Alex's store should be named. Have a look at my profile, it should be visible there. Tell me which one you like best._

Chapter 13: The Date

Piper entered the bar and looked around if Alex was already there. And in fact she already was. She spotted her in the back of the bar sitting at one of the tables in a rather secluded area. As it seemed Alex hadn't seen her enter yet so she could shortly watch her before she made her way over with her heart beating so much she could literally feel her heartbeat. Alex looked so beautiful. She had chosen a knee-long dress that hugged her in exactly the right places. She was the most beautiful woman Piper had seen.

"Hey." Alex looked up at Piper, a smile lighting up her whole face when she saw who greeted her.

"Hi. Piper. Wow. You look beautiful. Amazing dress." Alex smiled at her.

"I love yours." Piper gave back.

"Okay this isn't a competition." Alex laughed.

"It could be. We would just both win." Piper said.

They both sat down at the bench, rather sitting next to each other than opposite of each other. They turned into the direction of each other so they could still look at the other, their knees were touching.

"It's so great seeing you again. I know it's just been a few days but I couldn't wait to see you again tonight." Alex admitted.

"Yeah, me too." Piper gave her a sincere smile.

They talked about their return to work and the days between the workshop and now and enjoyed the time together.

"Okay. A random question. If you could trade places with someone for a day. Who would it be? And why?" Alex asked.

"Oh, that's a tough question to start with. I'd like it to be someone different everyday. This way you could experience all kinds of jobs, lifestyles and everything. And as it wouldn't be your life, but you got to peek into it, you could say afterwards, this is what I like. Like I really liked that day as a chef and I like cooking, I'm going to be a chef. If I had the chance to do that as a teenager that would have helped a lot."

"Wow. That is a great answer. That would be interesting that is right." Alex said admiringly at the blonde's explanation.

"Yeah, well I think that would help lots of people deciding what they want to be, who they want to be and what kind of life makes them happy. In the sense of 'live and learn'. You'd also know after what of those things you might not want. It could be called life internship. Like you are an intern to life." Piper chuckled.

"That would have helped quite a few people I knew. But sometimes life takes unexpected turns. You can't plan everything."

"True. But if you could plan everything and your whole life would go according to that plan, wouldn't it be boring? You'd know exactly what will happen for the rest of your life! I wouldn't want that."

"No, me neither. It's right, also like my plans and ideas change constantly. I couldn't even make a plan of where I want to be in - I don't know - 15 years from now." Alex explained and laughed at the image of having her whole life planned with no surprises, it was just ridiculous, that wouldn't ever be possible.

While they talked their drinks had arrived. They sipped their drinks and smiled at each other. It seemed both women had a great time and were enjoying themselves.

"Now a question for you." Piper started. "If you could invite three people to dinner. Who would they be?"

"Oh that is easy. First I'd have to say my mom. She is just one of the most important people in my life. Not only because she raised me. She was just always and I could come to her with everything. She always was my best friend. God I sounded like she's not with us anymore. She still is my best friend, next to Nicky who happens to be my other best friend. Who would be the second person invited to this fictional dinner. She helped me through all the rough times of growing up and becoming an adult. We went through some really crazy things, but that's not for now. And third, and actually the order doesn't matter, the invitations would be send out at the same moment, I'd like to invite you. Cause I really like you and I got the feeling this could be something really good." Alex silently admitted waiting for the blonde's reaction.

Piper was speechless. She hadn't expected an answer like this. "Oh, wow. I'd be honored. This sounds like a great dinner. And I am happy you'd want me to be part of it. And I feel like this could be something amazing too." Piper finally managed to say.

Alex smiled from ear to ear. Piper joined her. The got closer and shared a sweet, meaningful kiss with many emotions welling up in them. Mostly adoration, affinity and love.

They kept talking and asking each other more questions that sometimes were rather random and sometimes personal. It got later and later. Both had a great time and enjoyed each others company. Every now and then they got closer, exchanging so far innocent touches and sweet kisses.

"I don't really want this to end, but I think it is getting really late. Would you let me walk you home?" Alex asked.

"I don't want it to end either, but you're right. All good things come to an end eventually. Sadly." Piper replied. "And I think it would be great if you walked me home."

"Then let's go." they paid and left the bar.

"It's this way. We can go right through the park. I basically live on the other side of it." Piper told her. They started walking through the parks. After a few minutes Alex took Piper's hand. Piper smiled at Alex at that gesture.

"So, Piper. What would your perfect day look like?" Alex asked.

"My perfect day. Mhm. Sleeping in as long as possible, then having a nice breakfast. Possibly in bed. And then spend the day doing the things I like most. But spontaneous, you know just deciding what you want to do next right in the moment. So this day could be a day of reading, going out to do something fun or whatever I would feel like. It would be nice and a perfect ending to a perfect day to end it watching a movie cuddled up on the couch with someone I love."

"This sounds heavenly. And like an amazing day. I think my perfect day would be close to that. Even though I'm not sure if I want to end it with the movie on the couch." Alex chuckled.

Piper had to laugh to, understanding what the black-haired woman was hinting at. They kept walking through the park rather slowly as neither wanted the date to end. Just when Piper was about to ask Alex a question she heard her name being called from behind.

"Piper?" the voice asked unbelievingly, "it is you! Hey." Piper turned around and was surprised who she saw standing now in front of her.

_By the way. Thanks for all the reviews. I appreciate the feedback. I promise flashbacks will be less. There are still some to come, but not so many anymore. Also more interaction between Alex and Piper and Nicky._


	14. Chapter 14 Unexpected familiar faces

Chapter 14: Unexpected familiar faces

"Larry? Hi. What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" Piper asked. Was he just hanging around here or has he been waiting for her? Had he been to the bar too and followed them there?

"I was just in the neighbourhood, visiting a friend. I'm on my way home. Same as you as it seems. You remember Randy? We had a little guys night." Larry said, sounding a little intoxicated.

"Okay. Then have a safe way home. Bye." Piper turned to go. She didn't want to talk to him. Especially with Alex standing right next to them.

"Wait Piper. Can we talk?" Larry said sounding a little desperate. "Please!"

"About what? There is nothing left to say!" Piper told him. "Sorry Alex." she said to her date.

"About us? I can't believe that you want to throw everything away. We had a good thing Piper!" Larry tried.

"Listen, Larry. I'm just saying this one last time." Piper was getting angry. Why could he not get the hint that she didn't want to talk to him? "I told you, that my decision is final. I told you it was not spontaneous but a long process of thinking things through. So please believe it. I meant what I said and I am not going to change my mind."

"But Piper…" Larry tried.

"No. No but Piper… I know it must be hard, but you have to accept that. So goodnight. Come Alex, we're going home." Piper said and took Alex's hand and pulled her towards her home.

"Your ex I guess?" Alex asked carefully.

"Uhm, yes. I think I told you I ended things recently?!" Piper said quietly and a little insecure.

"Yes, you did. How recent was this recently?" Alex wanted to know.

'Oh, my. What if she thinks she's just a hole-filler to recover from my break-up? She really isn't. She can't think that.' Piper panicked a little. "Uhm, l-l-last sunday." she answered quietly. "But as I said it wasn't a spontaneous thing. I had been thinking about this for a while. So for me it wasn't as surprising as for him and I was completely prepared and" she started rambling trying to explain everything to Alex.

"Shh, calm down. I can't follow what you're saying if you keep talking that fast! Last sunday? That is not even a week. That was the day before we met. You sure you're okay with everything. I mean this is a really short time." Alex was confused and not sure how she should take this information.

"I know it hasn't been long. And I didn't plan this. But you have to believe me. This isn't just 'I'm looking for someone to make me feel good, because I'm just recovering from a break-up.' Alex, believe me, this is nothing like that. I'm not sad or angry that things ended with Larry. I wasn't happy anymore and I think I accepted the end of the relationship months ago before I got brave enough to stand up and actually end it."

"But don't you think it is way too soon to start something new?" Alex wanted to know.

"If you'd asked me last sunday or monday morning my answer would have been yes. Now I answer you that I don't think so anymore. You make me feel things I haven't felt before. Never in the whole relationship with Larry or anyone else for that matter have I been so happy and felt so good than with you during this last week. And yes I know it is fast. But I can't help it. I think it only took me those three afternoons in Washington to fall in love with you Alex." she said and waited for Alex to react. She could feel a small tear making its way down her cheek. They both hadn't noticed that the stopped walking and still stood in the middle of the small park.

"Piper. I… I don't know what to say. Other than I feel the same. And if you say you don't think it is too soon and that you're over him I will trust you. You - Piper Chapman - also made me feel things I never had for another woman before." Alex told her.

Both women stood so close to each other feeling very connected after the recent confessions. They looked into each others eyes and were both happy and content. They leaned in and kissed. First sweet and innocent but soon it turned more passionate. When they both ran out of breath they broke apart for air. They smiled at each other happily and continued their walk towards Piper's place.

"I should avoid this park." Piper chuckled. "Everytime I go through this park around this time I meet Larry."

"Oh this wasn't the first time you ran into him here?" Alex asked.

"No. Me walking through this park is basically how we met." Piper said.

"Okay. Tell me the story." Alex said.

"No. I don't want to kill the mood and tell you how I met my ex-boyfriend!" Piper was surprised that Alex wanted her to tell this story.

"I promise, it won't kill the mood. I'm just curious how you started a relationship with someone you met around midnight in a park. After you said you met Polly at that bar. You seem to have weird places of meeting people." Alex chuckled.

"Okay. Okay. But it isn't a really nice story and I'm not sure if you can keep that promise. I'll remind you you insisted afterwards!" Piper said and started telling the story.

**FLASHBACK**

The evening was young, she told herself. A lot could happen in one night. She'd been through that. Not just once. After having been single for a while Piper started to go out more often, trying to meet someone new. But after awhile she came to the conclusion, that the bars she went to weren't the best places to meet someone to start a relationship with. She wanted to have someone she could cuddle up with, spend the evening on the couch, talk to about all kinds of things and just have someone who loves her and whom she loves.

So far she hadn't been lucky. Most of the people she met, were looking for a one time thing and not something steady.

Right now she didn't think she'd be successful this evening, so she decided to leave the bar and just go home. She paid and stood up to leave when a seedy looking man came up to her.

"Hey beauty, leaving already? How about I show you the way to my place?" he asked her grinning.

"Ehh, how about no?" Piper replied.

"Why would say that? I could make you feel good. I am sure of it." the man said, not taking her no as final answer.

"I am sorry, but you're gonna have to find somebody else to make them feel good. Not me."

Piper backed off trying to get some space between her and the rather unclean looking man that also seemed te bo slightly intoxicated.

He moved away unblocking the way to the door for Piper to leave the bar.

Feeling relieved, Piper gathered her coat and scarf and left the bar. She started walking and was surprised that it had gotten even colder outside. It wasn't far to her apartment so she walked there. On her way she came through a small park, which she thought was beautifully green with all kinds of different plants, where she enjoyed walking through at daytime, but was reluctant to go through alone in the dark. It wasn't a neighbourhood where shady people usually hung out, but still she wasn't one hundred percent sure, that the park was completely safe by night. She thought about it for a short while if she should go through the park or walk around. Through the park would be a lot shorter than around it. As it had gotten colder, Piper started to shiver a little. She had been prepared for colder weather, but it had gotten even colder then she had thought. As she didn't want to get sick, she decided to take the shorter walk and go through the park.

As she was a few metres into the park she felt eyes on her. She suddenly had the very strange feeling that she wasn't alone.

"Hello?" Piper tried. No response.

She slowly got a bit scared and felt shivers going down her spine, this time not because of the cold.

"Hey there, out alone in the park?" came a voice out of the dark.

Piper had to do her best not to scream. She somehow recognised the voice. Even in her panicked state she looked around trying to find something that could help her. Not far away she saw one of the park lamps. It couldn't be bad to have some more light, could it? Slowly she walked towards the brighter spot. As she stepped into the light, the man the voice belonged to stepped closer and came into view. Piper saw that it was the man from the bar. Obviously he had been following her. Suddenly she felt a little sick, that she hadn't noticed all the way from the bar that she was being followed.

"What do you want?" Piper asked the man, barely keeping her voice from trembling.

"Isn't that clear to you? Are you that naive? Oh little blondie…I already told you that." the man showed her a toothy smile. Piper grimaced in disgust.

"Leave me alone!" Piper tried, knowing it might not help much.

"Oh come on, blondie. I'll make you feel good. It won't even take long" Piper tried to bring more space between this hobo and herself. He was coming closer to her and Piper tried to figure if she could just run. But with her panik it was like she was glued to the spot, she couldn't really move. He was so close already that she could smell his breath, a mixture of alcohol, cigarettes and what she figured was the smell of someone who hadn't brushed his teeth in a while.

"GET AWAY FROM HER, YOU ASSHOLE!" came a voice from the side. "She told you to leave her alone, so you're gonna back off, walk away and leave this woman alone. Do that and you won't face a lawsuit for sexual harassment."

"And who are you to tell me what to do?"

"Someone with enough influence to make you go behind bars for a while!"

That seemed to scare the man enough that he backed off and hurried away.

"Hey, you okay?" her saviour asked.

"Eh, I think so." Piper almost stuttered, being still shocked. "Oh and thank you for saving me here. This creep was already hitting at me in this bar and I told him I wasn't interested, but he didn't seem too bothered by it."

"You're welcome. Can't leave a young woman on her way being treated like that! I'm Larry by the way."

"Larry. Hi, I'm Piper." Piper looked at him curiously. She was wondering if it was true what he said. Did he know powerful people who could do something just like that?

"Can I walk you home? You're still shaking. I want to make sure you get home safely." Piper was still speechless but agreed to let him walk her home.

Piper slowly came down from her shock and they started talking. Piper found out that Larry was just a year older than her, he was a writer and currently writing an article about animals living in the city, his father was a lawyer, which was the reason he threatened the man who harassed her with a lawsuit and he was on his way home from a dinner with friends when he saw the scene in the park.

After a while they arrived at the apartment building where Piper lived. "This is me" she said. "Thank you for saving me and making sure I get home safely" she added.

"Really no need to thank me. It was a pleasure walking you home." Larry replied. "I, uhm, don't want to overstep and I hope you don't feel like this is completely out of place. I wanted to ask you, if I could see you again. You seem like a very nice girl and I hope you will go out on a date with me? I don't want you to feel like I'm using the situation to hit on you. It's just you seem very nice and I'd be interested, only of course if you are too, to go out and see if this could work. I'm gonna stop rambling now. Sorry."

Piper gave him a smile. She found it a little cute, that he was getting that nervous when earlier he seemed confident enough to scare that creepy guy away.

"I don't feel like that. And yes, it would be nice to see you again. So I guess, yes I'm interested." Piper replied, suddenly getting a little nervous too.

"Oh that's great. "His face lit up. "So how about dinner on Friday? I'll pick you up at 7?"

"Sounds great." Piper answered. "So, thank you again, I'm gonna go to bed now. See you on Friday, Larry." Piper smiled and went inside her apartment building.

She noticed that they hadn't even exchanged numbers, but they could still do that on Friday.

Thinking back to her night, she remembered how she had nearly giving up on meeting someone tonight. She had to admit, that she wasn't happy about the situation how they met and that he had to save her from this situation, she'd rather this situation hadn't happened at all, but she was happy she met Larry and that he had saved her.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

"So you went out with him because he saved you from a creepy guy?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. Well I intended it to be more of a thank you dinner for saving me from being raped. But I liked him and then there was a second date and a third and so on."

_Hey everyone. Yes. Another flashback. There are as far as I am with the story (I'm a few chapters ahead to be able to post if I don't have much time for writing) two more flashbacks to come. The next one in chapter 16 but the other one quite a few chapters after that. Promised to have less flashbacks. Also. Please don't forget to answer the poll. I'm gonna leave it open until thursday. Take your chance to influence the story._


	15. Chapter 15 This is me

Chapter 15: This is me

They stood in front of Piper's apartment building. "So this is me. I hope I didn't ruin the night with that last story. But you insisted."

Alex laughed. "You did not ruin it. It was perfect. Well if I had the choice I would cut out the meeting the ex in the park part, but I had a great time with you. It was an amazing evening. Or better night. Slowly you could say morning even." Alex laughed. Piper liked hearing Alex laugh, not only because she wanted Alex happy but also because over the last week it had become one of her favourite sounds.

"Do you maybe want to come up for another drink or something?" Piper asked shyly. She would do anything for this night to never end.

"You sure, Pipes? I don't want to rush things too fast. I don't want to regret later that we hurried this and it realize it won't work because we took things too fast." Alex answered.

"We could just keep talking. The point is, I love spending time with you and talking to you. That's it. I just don't want to end this night. It feels too good to end." Piper explained.

Alex gave her a smile and agreed. The went up to Piper's apartment. After they entered Piper showed Alex around and they ended sitting on the couch with a drink in their hand. They kept talking, outside it got brighter already, until both passed out on the couch, cuddled up in each other with their limbs tangled in each other.

They were woken up by a loud noise. As it turned out it was the door to Piper's apartment opening and closing followed by her best friend entering the living room with a loud "Piper Chapman!"

"What?!" Piper said sleepily.

"What is going on?" Polly demanded to know.

"What are you doing here Polly?" Piper was shocked to see her friend standing in front of her. This wasn't supposed to be the way she finds out about her and Alex. She sat up. Alex was awake now too and sat on the couch too, not sure what to do in this situation.

"You didn't answer my question. Piper. And I am here because you were supposed to meet me about an hour and a half ago. You didn't pick up your phone, so I figured I'll just com over and have a look if everything is okay. Now answer my question please." Polly said a bit annoyed.

"What time is it? I'm sorry Polly I didn't set an alarm, I didn't think I would sleep that long." Piper excused herself. Polly looked unsatisfied, still not having received the answer she was waiting for.

"Sorry, Alex this is my best friend Polly, Polly this is Alex. We met at the workshop in Washington and went out yesterday night. We kept talking and I guess it got very late as we seem to have slept past noon. I'm sorry this wasn't supposed to be how you two meet." Piper introduced the two women.

"Hi." Alex greeted her.

"Hi." Polly replied a little reluctant. She looked at Piper and gave her a good punch in the upper arm.

"Ouch, Polly what the hell?" Piper screamed.

"You allowed me to do this. You broke your promise! This time for real. So this is reasonable!"

"I did not break any promise!" Piper exclaimed.

"Yes you did." To Alex who looked confused and questioningly at the two women she said "Piper promised not to get herself into something new so soon after the break up. As a good friend I am here to remind her of that. You know it has been a week since she broke up with her boyfriend?"

"Yeah, she told me. Not about the promise though." Alex said accusingly to Piper.

"I did tell her that. They even met yesterday. I didn't tell you because my promise was to not start something with a guy for a while so there is no breaking of promises. And as I told you yesterday I really don't feel like any of this is too soon." she added the last part for Alex.

"What do you mean they met yesterday?" Polly asked confused.

"We ran into him in the park. He wanted to talk, I didn't. I just told him I am still very serious about what I told him last week and I won't change my mind. I'll show you that I didn't break any promise here. I still have our conversation typed in text messages!" Piper told her.

She got her phone and showed the texts as a reminder to Polly and showed it to Alex too.

[Piper: Hey Pol, thanks again for the evening. Definite decision: No guys for me for a while. Trying to keep my mind clear for a while.]

[Polly: Stop thanking me. There is nothing to thank me for. I'm there just as you are there for me. That's a sudden decision. You sure?]

[Piper: Yes, completely sure.]

[Polly: Okay. I will make sure you'll stay with it.]

"Okay. It's your decision Piper." Alex said and excused herself to the bathroom so the two friends were alone.

"I can't believe you Piper. You just got out of a relationship and now you're into the next one directly? If this is one. You haven't said anything to that yet. What is this?" Polly asked.

"I don't know what this is. We just met this week. It is really new. But I really like her, Polly. Really. She makes me feel things I haven't felt before and I feel happier than I thought I could be. I never felt that happy with Larry to be honest. I know it is fast but she's just great and I think I am in love, Pol."

"Oh, wow. You're serious about this, aren't you? So is this like love at first sight? Is she your girlfriend now?" Polly got excited.

"Yes, I am serious. I don't know, but I think it could be? And we haven't made it official yet. But I'm not sure if that is going to take long. I really would love for her to be my girlfriend." Polly could see the excitement and love in Piper's eyes and felt happy for her, even if she thought this was all very soon. But as long as her best friend was happy, she was happy.

"Okay. I'll leave you two to whatever then now. I just wanted to make sure you're okay and nothing happened." Polly said and left.

"Where did Polly go?" Alex asked when returning.

"She left, said she just wanted to check if I'm okay. As this was the case, I'm not hurt or bleeding to death, she left. So what do you want to do today?"

"I think at some point I need to go home and change. I'm still wearing yesterday's clothes and it's starting to get uncomfortable."

"I could lend you something." Piper just replied.

"You'll do anything to make me stay won't you?" Alex chuckled.

"Well I'm not forcing you to stay. I only hope you don't want to leave." Piper replied pulling the tall woman into a hug.

"You're making it hard to even think about leaving."

"Great. That was the idea behind that." Piper said satisfied with herself.

Alex changed into the clothes Piper gave her and they returned to their position next to each other on the couch. They started watching a movie. Both couldn't concentrate fully on what exactly they were watching as they stole small kisses and light touches throughout all of it and distracted themselves pretty much. Closer to the end of the movie they stopped paying attention to it at all as their playful cuddling turned into a rather heated make out session. Though both women were immensely turned on they decided they didn't want to go that far yet and just laid next to each other embracing the closeness.

"I think that was my stomach." Piper giggled hearing a groaning noise.

"We should do something about that." Alex said chuckling.

They got up, Piper started to turn some music on and the made breakfast/lunch. They were about to be finished when Piper left for a second, got the table ready and chose a special song to be played when they ate, a question she's been meaning to ask Alex ever since her talk with Polly earlier on.

They sat down and started to eat when the song started. Piper hoped Alex would be listening to the song and not be in thoughts and not notice what it was about. To make sure Alex listened she told her she liked the song. Soon the singer started to sing.

_I didn't know how to ask unawkwardly._

_I didn't know how to approach it._

_I haven't known how to do this informally_

_Not cut out for dropping masks_

_I guess I give, and you give back._

_Is that right?_

_Guess I listen and you feedback_

_Is that right_

_I guess I call when I need help_

_Is that right?_

_Will You be my girlfriend?_

_I haven't worn my heart on sleeves and been rewarded_

_with an open heartedness_

_I haven't felt I had the right to be supported_

_with a golden tenderness_

_I guess I risk and you risk back_

_is that right?_

_I guess I share and you share back_

_Is that right?_

_Guess I uplift you when you crack_

_Is that right?_

_Will You be my girlfriend?_

_Can I lean on your shoulder?_

_Will you join me in some pact?_

_Will you see me as your sister?_

_Can we love enough to offer that?_

_I guess I thought that you would laugh and be daunted_

_And think me clingy and too much_

_I thought this much too vulnerable, and you'd not cut __me slack_

_And think me intolerable_

_I guess I fall and you stay intact_

_Is that right?_

_I guess you hear me and won't attack me_

_Is that right?_

_Guess I reach out and you reach back_

_Is that right?_

_Will you be my girlfriend?_

_Guess I divulge and you wink back_

_Is that right?_

_I guess you cry, I pat your back_

_Is that right?_

_I guess I text and you text back_

_Is that right?_

_Will you be my girlfriend?_

_Is that right?_

_Will you be my girlfriend?_

_Will you be my girlfriend?_

Piper watched Alex as the song went on and saw how Alex's lips turned into a big smile when the singer sang the question 'Will you be my girlfriend?' for the first time.

As the song ended, Alex chuckled and asked: "Is there a message you tried to convey with that song? Or did it play by accident?"

"It did not play by accident. I put it on the playlist." Piper answered looking at Alex and waiting for her answer.

"So you played this song to ask me this question?" Alex laughed, she wasn't about to make this easy for the blonde.

"Yes. I think she sang that question often enough, or do you want me to repeat it?"

"Better repeat it, I'm not sure if I remember it correctly." Alex smirked.

Piper knew that the black haired woman teased her but didn't want to give her the satisfaction of showing any annoyance. Nervously she asked "Alex Vause. Will you be my girlfriend?"

Alex grinned and kissed her passionately. "Yes. Piper Chapman. I will be your girlfriend."

_Hey. Hope you enjoy reading the story so far. The song used this time is "Will you be my girlfriend" by Alanis Morissette._


	16. Chapter 16 Liking girls

Chapter 16: Liking girls

They had been spending most of the afternoon watching another movie, listening to music and sharing their favourite songs and artists. Later they sat on the couch calming from a rather intense chase through Piper's apartment that was started by Alex after she caught her girlfriend sneaking up from behind her scaring the living hell out of her.

"Like a week ago I sat at home, thinking I didn't really want to go to Washington and just wanted to stay home and now a week later I couldn't be happier that I decided to do the workshop." Alex told Piper.

"Yeah, me too." she smiled at her, feeling very happy and content.

"Though on that first day I never would have guessed you're into girls until you told me later about your first girlfriend." Alex laughed.

"Oh, really that surprising?" Piper joined the laughter. "What is it about me that makes people think I'm straight?"

"I don't know. But I'm happy I was wrong with that. Even though I don't like being wrong." Alex admits.

"Who does? Mhm. I'm pretty happy about that too. Actually not many people know that I like girls too. Literally just Polly and the girls I've been with. Which weren't that many." Piper told her.

"I guessed Polly knew that, she didn't seem very surprised to find you tangled up on the couch with one." Alex laughed. More serious she added: "So you never told your parents?"

"No. I'm not sure how they would react to their perfect little Piper to be so off from the picture they want to have in their minds when thinking about me." Piper said a little sad. "First I told myself I would tell them when I am through with college and earn my own money so they couldn't cut me off and I wouldn't be dependent on them financially. But then I met Larry and thought why tell them I like girls when I have a boyfriend? And then I would have needed to tell Larry too."

"I get that. It's okay. My mom somehow always knew. When I told her she was all like: Yeah, I've known that for years already and I had been as nervous as never before." Alex laughed at the memory. "So Polly was easier to tell?"

"Yeah. I mean even though we didn't know each other for very long yet but I wanted to be honest with her and know how it would be to tell someone about that side of me."

**FLASHBACK**

Couple months after they had first met Polly and Piper had grown to be really good friends already. They understood each other very well and could talk about anything.

Even though they were so open about everything Piper hadn't told Polly that she's attracted to girls too. So far both of them had been happy to be single after their break-ups.

One day they were meeting at Piper's place and had intended to just hang out when Polly suddenly said: "Let's go out tonight, Piper! Let's go to a bar, pick up some guys and have a great night."

"Woah, okay. I'm not sure if I want to pick up anyone!" Piper replied a little shocked about the sudden change of mind of her friend.

"Come on, we've been hanging out at your or my place for quite some time now. It's time we get ourselves back out there and move on."

"I don't know." Piper was not really excited about her friends proposal.

"You don't have to pick up someone. You can just come with me and see what's on the market." Polly tried to convince Piper. "Come on Piper. I really need a night out!"

"Okay. But just cause you're literally begging me and I know you won't stop annoying me if I say no." Piper gave in. She didn't really feel like going out, but wanted to have a good time with Polly. And if her friend begged her to go out, she would go out with her.

When they arrived at the club Polly was all excited. Piper slowly felt better and just a little bit excited that they went out. They both got drinks and sat down in a booth in the corner. They scanned the people in the club, Polly focusing on finding hot guys, Piper looking around taking everyone in, checking out men and women.

"Oh, see that guy with the short blond hair and the grey sweater over there? I can literally see his abs through the shirt!" Polly pointed out a man in the crowd, trying not to be too obvious.

"Yeah, looks good, not my type though." Piper replied.

"You know, we've known each other for what - 7 months - now and I have no idea what your type is?"

"Same here though… I don't know which guys you like." Piper didn't want to go into an explanation of what was her type.

"Okay. Let's just point guys out that ARE our type, then we'll see what our type of guys each of us likes, okay?" Polly offered.

"I need another drink for that and you go first." Piper answered.

"Okay. I already pointed out one. It actually is your turn." Polly teased.

Just then Piper saw a woman sitting at the bar who looked all mysterious and really sexy.

'She is my type!' Piper thought but didn't dare to say it out loud as Polly didn't know about her attraction to both sexes.

"Why do you keep staring at that woman?" Polly asked confused.

Piper hadn't even noticed she was staring at her. "I'm not staring!" she quickly said.

"You've been looking at her for longer then normal and appropriate." Polly noted. Suddenly her eyes went wide and her face showed an expression of pure surprise. "Is SHE your type?"

"Uh, god Polly. Uhm, yes actually. I mean look at her. She is just beautiful and really sexy. Everyone with eyes can see that!" Piper blurted out. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to tell Polly everything, but somehow she was tired of avoiding the topic every time they came close to it.

"You like girls?" Polly asked surprised and quite loudly.

"Yeah. But could you please repeat that a bit louder, I think those two guys standing in the opposite corner haven't heard it the first time." Piper tried to get her to speak more quietly.

"Sorry. Well that is new. Not that it's bad or anything, I mean you can be happy with a woman too, right?" Polly rattled on. "So when we first met, the one that broke up with you was your girlfriend and you just didn't want to tell a stranger about your lesbian relationship?"

"No Polly. As I told you, it was my boyfriend. I didn't lie about that. If you have to put a label on it you can consider me bisexual. I prefer to just not put a label on it. I like people. If it's a boy. Great. If it's a girl. Also great. I don't care about the gender." Piper explained.

"Oh okay. So you've had boyfriends and girlfriends?" Polly was curious.

"Yes."

"And how is it different? I mean I can imagine what difference there is, but feelings-wise, I mean." Polly wanted to know.

"Of course it's completely different. Both great, but completely different." Piper didn't go on explaining.

"I'm probably stepping too close with that, but who is better in bed? Boys or girls?"

"Polly! But I can't tell you. I had girlfriends, not many. But it never got that far. I haven't slept with a girl yet."

"Oh okay. That's okay. I'm just curious. So we're looking for girls and boys? Still I don't know what your type is?!"

"Hot girls, or hot boys. As easy as that." Piper laughed.

"Well that's specific." Polly joined the laughter.

Both of them kept talking, pointing out different people they found hot but ended up going back home to Piper's place by themselves talking and laughing on the way.

Back at Piper's place they kept talking about everything and nothing when Polly suddenly asked: "How did you notice you like girls too?"

"Uh, I was at this party my friend Sarah had dragged me to…" Piper started and told Polly the whole story of how she met Helena, how they've been a couple and how it broke apart. Especially how they were nearly caught making out by her parents.

"That's quite a story." Polly said and stayed quiet for a while. "And your parents still don't know you like girls or did you tell them?"

"No. I haven't told them anything. And for now I'd prefer it to stay that way." Piper told her.

"Okay. I'm not gonna say anything. I promise." Polly said.

"Thank you." Piper was glad. Glad that Polly knew and that she wouldn't tell anyone she didn't want to know.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

"How long ago was that?" Alex asked.

"Mhm. Let me think. I met Polly one year before I met Larry. So about five years ago." Piper told her.

"Okay. And I guess you didn't pick up that girl that night?" Alex laughed.

"Why would you think so? But you're right. I didn't." Piper chuckled.

"So you haven't been with a girl since that conversation with Polly?" Alex probed.

"Why are you asking me this? No I haven't." Piper was confused.

"Oh, nothing. Just trying to collect the facts." she said with a smirk.

"What facts? That I've told Polly five years ago I like girls but haven't been with one since I told her? What exactly was the crucial point for this investigation?" Piper asked playfully.

"Oh nothing. Just a bit of information from the conversation." Alex teased her.

Piper thought for a bit, which part of her conversation could be the trigger to this questioning. She eventually had an idea. "It was the fact that I have been with girls but not slept with one yet, was it?" she looked at Alex expectantly and smirked.

"As I said. I'm just collecting the facts. And it actually doesn't matter. But I would feel honored and special if you decide to let me be the first. And I don't mean right now and immediately. Even though I wouldn't complain. But whenever you're ready." Alex said sweetly.

"That is sweet. And I don't want to rush it. I don't know what it is that I feel closer to you and more connected than I have felt with anyone else."

"I know what you mean. I can feel it too." Alex replied. They stayed quiet for a while and just enjoyed the moment together.

"Sorry to say that, but it is late and I can't go to work tomorrow in borrowed clothes. I need to go home." Alex said a bit later with a look at her watch.

"I really don't want you to leave but I already kept you here all sunday." Piper grinned.

"I am totally fine with that. It was so much better than being at home alone." Alex replied.

"So, see you soon? You can take the clothes and give them back later." Piper told her.

"Yes. Very soon. I hope." Alex said and left after giving the blonde a long and tender goodbye kiss.

_Hey. So this is the last flashback until I think chapter 23. Also. I've closed the poll. Decision is made. You'll see in later chapters what the name's going to be. I hope everyone is still enjoying this story._


	17. Chapter 17 When will I see you again?

Chapter 17: When will I see you again?

**-Alex's POV-**

When Alex got home she shortly checked her phone and saw that she had three missed calls from her mother and a text from her best friend. Spending the day with Piper she had completely ignored it.

She read Nicky's message and quickly replied and then decided to call her mom back to ask why she had called several times.

"Hi honey. So you're still breathing. That's nice." Diane answered the phone.

"It was only wednesday we last spoke, mom, it has been like five days." Alex replied in mock anger.

"Honey, you completely forgot, didn't you?" Diane laughed.

"Forget what?" Alex was confused.

"You wanted to come over for lunch today?! You did forget. That's a first. I was a little worried, that's why I called so often" Diane explained.

"Oh my god. I am so sorry. I, uhm, was kinda occupied today and completely forgot. I'm sorry I'll come tomorrow for dinner instead, okay? I am so sorry."

"Occupied, huh?" Diane had a clue what this was about.

"Yeah. I had a date with Piper yesterday. And we talked the whole night. We slept until after noon and I completely forgot the time. I honestly just got home." Alex told her mom still feeling all excited from the amazing day she had spend with the blonde woman.

"It's okay honey. I see you had a great day and you sound so glowy and sincerely happy that I'd rather you have this amazing time with Piper than visiting this old woman." Diane laughed and felt so happy for her daughter.

"Thank you, but I feel really bad for completely forgetting about visiting. I could have at least texted you or something." Alex said guiltily.

"Yes you could have, but don't worry. You'll come visit again and whenever you are ready you bring that girlfriend of yours with you, won't you?" Diane said.

"I will, mom." Alex smiled thinking of Piper.

"You didn't say anything about me using the word girlfriend. So I guess it's official?" Diane enquired.

"Yes, since today actually." Alex still had a smile plastered all over her face.

"That is great. Tell her I said hi, even though I haven't met her. She sounds like an amazing woman for making my daughter flustered like that. I'll have to end it here. I'm gonna go to bed now, I have to get up early for the morning shift tomorrow. Now that I know my daughter hasn't been hit by a car and had an amazing day I can go to bed relieved." Diane laughed and hung up after telling her daughter goodnight and that she loved her.

Alex had to get up early too but after this day she still felt too excited and nowhere near being able to sleep. Just then a new message arrived. Her eyes lit up, hoping it would be Piper, but it turned out it was her best friend Nicky.

[Nicky: Hey, what are you up to tomorrow night?]

[Alex: Dinner with my mom, why?]

[Nicky: Not finished after your lunch today? Is there so much to talk about?]

[Alex: We didn't have lunch today. Tomorrow's dinner is to make up for it.]

[Nicky: What happened?]

[Alex: Nothing. I forgot the time and missed it.]

[Nicky: Now seriously what happened to make your forget about your lunch, mama's girl?]

[Alex: Hey. No joking about my relationship to my mother. She has been one to you too. Don't forget that. And I'll tell you later.]

[Nicky: You know I love Diane. She's like a mom to me. More than that my fine specimen of a mother. Is that about that girl you met on your business trip?]

[Alex: How do you know about that?]

[Nicky: The universe has told me.]

[Nicky: No actually it was your mom. Ran into her on friday.]

[Alex: Might have been the reason.]

[Nicky: Vausey has a girlfriend! ;-P]

[Alex: See. That's why I haven't told you anything! You're the worst. It's about time we find you one.]

[Nicky: Nope. This fine specimen over here is happy with a casual one night stand every now and then. No commitment.]

[Alex: Nicky Nichols, forever single. Haha… Afraid nobody wants that crazy of yours, huh?]

[Nicky: Not afraid. But imagine me and a serious relationship?]

[Alex: Pretty funny picture in my head right now. Can't stop laughing.]

[Nicky: You're welcome.]

Alex put the phone on the drawer next to her bed and got changed. She lay in bed for a while reading a few pages until she fell asleep.

**-Piper's POV-**

After Alex had left Piper felt empty and in a weird mood. What should she do now? Read? No. She wasn't going to be able to concentrate on anything. Watch a movie? Which one? She wouldn't be able to decide, besides, she had already watched two with Alex today. Which brought her thoughts back to the black-haired woman. How lucky could one be? Just last week she was on her last date with her boyfriend, who proposed, she broke up with him and it felt so relieving. Then meeting her new girlfriend right the next day. At some moments she couldn't believe that all this was happening and she wasn't dreaming any of it. She felt so happy.

Now that things got more serious with Alex and she really wanted this to be a long term thing, she knew she had to tell her parents about the fact that she liked girls and had a girlfriend. She didn't want to keep it a secret anymore. She felt so happy that she wanted to scream it out to the world. Piper just didn't know how she would do that and how her parents would react to that and if they'd be nice to Alex when they would meet her one day.

She decided to take a hot bath and hoped it would relax her and calm her down a little so that at some point she'd be calm enough to go to bed. She ran the bath and turned the music on. Soon she felt the hot water relaxing her body and she listened to the song on the radio.

I've been running far away from love

I've been trying to rise above

Thought I'd be cooler with no one

And I thought it would be easy

I thought it's easy

There was not a warning sign on you

There was nothing I could do

You opened all the gates from me

And you made me see it's easy

You just feel the love and sing

Better for worse, to rain or shine

Now you're mine, it brings me

Happiness, happiness, happiness

You are the one (you bring me happiness)

You call me dear and hold me close

Give sweet love and it glows

Happiness, happiness, happiness

You are the one (you bring me happiness)

Lately she's been dreaming about the one

About her prince, the golden son

She's waiting for the perfect match

But that ain't quite the catch

It's easy

She should find someone who sings

Better for worse, to rain or shine

Now you're mine, it brings me

Happiness, happiness, happiness

You are the one (you bring me happiness)

You call me dear and hold me close

Give sweet love and it glows

Happiness, happiness, happiness

You are the one (you bring me happiness)

Bill and Johnny found a brand new life

In their bedroom Bill is the wife

They're holding hands and kissing deep

And they don't need no ladies for them

It's so damn easy

Better for worse, to rain or shine

Now you're mine, it brings me

Happiness, happiness, happiness

You are the one (you bring me happiness)

You call me dear and hold me close

Give sweet love and it glows

Happiness, happiness, happiness

You are the one

You are the one

Yes, yes you are the one

You are the one

She liked the song. 'I wouldn't go so far to say Alex was 'The One', I mean how can you know that after one week, right?' she thought, but she felt so happy and thought the song caught the feeling pretty well. She got out of the bath and went all relaxed and happy to bed and fell asleep soon.

_Hey everyone. I know I've been using quite a few lyrics, but I always find songs that fit perfectly and they express things better than I can sometimes. This one is Happiness by Sunrise Avenue._


	18. Chapter 18 Luigi's

Chapter 18: Luigi's

The next morning Piper went to Polly to keep working on their plan for PoPi. She wasn't sure what to expect though. If the brunette would keep asking her about Alex? She figured she'd find out soon. A few minutes later she arrived at Polly's place.

"Hi, Piper. Come in, I've made some coffee, we can jump right into it." Polly greeted her.

'How can someone be so enthusiastic on a monday morning?' Piper wondered.

"I have summarized what we talked about last week. Would you read it and tell me if you have anything to add or change?" Polly asked her and handed her two pages to read. Piper read what Polly had summarized and thought about it for a second.

"I think what you've written down is the essential part that we need. How about though, we - just for now - try to fixate on a few scents, let's say five, and make a collection of those scents. We'd have everything from soap to body lotion to body wash in that scent. As soon as we can handle those we can add more scents?" Piper suggested.

"That's actually not a bad idea. Which ones though?" Polly agreed.

They discussed for a while which scents they'd concentrate on for the beginning and how they could do the marketing for them. As it got later Piper excused herself to get ready for her afternoon and evening shift at 'Luigi's', the restaurant she worked at. Luigi was a rather small Italian who ran the place with enthusiasm and was one of the nicest people Piper had met. He was the only one who had given Piper a chance to start as a waitress in his restaurant with little to no experience when all the other places she had applied at turned her down. The atmosphere in the restaurant was rather familiar and welcoming. After her three years of working there her coworkers and Luigi had become like a second family to her.

-Alex's POV-

She spent the morning planning and researching the design possibilities for her café. As it turned noon she made lunch and while not focussing on her work a particular blonde popped into her head. The thought immediately causing a smile on her face. She felt so happy. She remembered her dinner with her mom and researched where they could go out to eat that evening. When she found a little place that seemed to be inviting and had amazing food and a great atmosphere according to the reviews she texted her mom when and where they would go. She was looking forward to seeing her mother and still felt a little guilty about forgetting their lunch the day before. Even though they had talked every couple days on the phone, they hadn't met in person for couple weeks already and Alex missed seeing her mother and just spending time with her.

When the evening came Alex got ready and waited for her mother in front of the restaurant.

"Hi, honey. It's so great to see you." Diane greeted her daughter when she arrived pulling her into a tight hug.

"Hi, mom. It's great to see you too. I'm sorry that I missed lunch yesterday. But I'm happy we could arrange dinner tonight. My treat as I humiliatingly forgot." Alex smiled at her.

They went in and got placed in a corner at a table for two. As Alex had expected it the place was rather small but had a nice, warm atmosphere that made her feel like home.

"So tell me about this girl of yours! I'm bursting with curiosity." Diane laughed. As soon as she had seen her daughter she had noticed that something about her was different. She was literally radiating happiness and Diane felt so good and happy that her daughter was obviously very much in love and so happy with her new girlfriend, that she had no chance of hiding it.

"Well, as I told you her name is Piper and we met at the workshop. She works with her friend building a company making artisanal soaps and things like that." The whole time Alex had a dreamy smile on her face that Diane hadn't seen on her daughter's face before but was very happy to see. "And she is just amazing. She has these beautiful blue eyes, that … I … just could … get lost ...in." Alex slowed down, getting lost in said blue eyes looking at her with surprise.

"Uhm, hi. What are you doing here, Alex?" Piper mustered to say.

"Hi, Piper. I am having dinner with my mom. I didn't know you worked here though. I mean you said you worked as a waitress, but I didn't know that this is the place you're working at." Alex said completely flustered.

"Yes, this is it. For three years now." Piper said shyly after Alex mentioned being there with her mom and seeing Diane sitting at the table with her. 'Wow, her mother just looks like a slightly older version of Alex. Or rather the other way round, I guess.' Piper thought.

"Oh, sorry how rude of me." Alex noticed she hadn't introduced the two women. "Piper, this is my mother Diane. Mom, this is my girlfriend Piper."

"It's nice to meet you Ms. Vause." Piper said politely and hold out a hand.

"It's nice to meet you too, Piper. And cut the politeness, I'm Diane. Ms. Vause makes me feel so old." with that she pulled a slightly startled Piper into a hug. "Anyone who makes my daughter as happy as she is, is part of the family."

Piper was surprised by the open and wholehearted welcome. "Thank you, Diane." She hadn't expected to meet Alex's mom so fast but could already see why Alex loved her mom so much. "I am your waitress for tonight actually, so, do you already know what you want to drink?" she said and handed both women the menu.

"I'll have a water, please." Diane said. "Two, please." Alex added.

"Okay. As much as I would like to stay and talk to you, I have to work and have some more tables to tend to. So enjoy your evening, I'll try to make some time to talk. Mondays luckily aren't the busiest days of the week." Piper smiled at Alex and Diane.

"She seems very nice. I like her." Diane told her daughter.

"Thanks mom. She is great." Alex smiled contently. "Even though this was not how I planned you two would meet the first time."

"It doesn't matter how we meet. She seems like a very nice girl and I am happy for you. You two seem so easy and happy together. And that's all I want for you, Alex, to be happy. And I can see that this is exactly how she makes you feel. And from the look on her face I think she feels the same." Diane said with a big smile on her face.

"Thanks mom. I am happy that is true. But it's been only a week, so I don't want to rush things, you know. What if it doesn't work out? I already have so many feelings that I can't describe for her, that it would hurt if this wouldn't work out. Does that sound completely crazy?"

"It doesn't sound crazy. Just very much in love. And that is great Alex. I've been waiting for you to find someone to make you feel like that. And I know it can be scary to fall so much for someone so fast. But please don't shut it out or fight it, cause I can see that all this makes you the happiest I've ever seen you. And yes, it could hurt very much if it doesn't work but how would you feel if you push it away to protect you from getting hurt when it could make you happier than you ever thought you could be? Please promise me, you won't sabotage your own happiness because your afraid to get hurt."

"I won't mom, it is just a bit scary." Alex told her.

"That is okay, hon. But I promise it will be worth it. I saw how you two look at each other. It took me a few seconds to notice how very much in love you two are. And from what I heard from you she might be the right one." Diane said.

Alex blushed a little. "I don't know, if she's the one. I just know she makes me feel things I haven't felt before. And I mean, you never know right?"

Just then Piper returned with their water. "Sorry it took a bit longer, Luigi held me back in the kitchen. After weekends he's always a talker. Told me all about his weekend." she laughed.

"That's okay, Pipes." Alex said, hoping the colour of her face had turned back to normal after hearing her mother say that Piper could be the right one for her.

"So have you decided what you want to eat yet?"

"Ugh, no actually. I haven't even had a look at the menu yet." Alex admitted.

"Oh that's okay." Piper smiled at her. "I'll come back then in a few minutes, if you want?"

"Or just stay here, if you're not too busy? Any recommendations?" Alex asked.

"Oh, everything is good. And I'm not just saying that because I work here, but I've tried it. And Luigi and his son who are cooking are really good. I can literally recommend everything." Piper chuckled. "I'll just head back to the kitchen and see if the orders for the other tables are ready. See you in a bit."

-Piper's POV-

Piper went back to the kitchen looking back at Alex's and Diane's table every now and then. She was surprised, when she had seen Alex entering the restaurant and then introducing her to her mother. She hadn't expected to meet Diane so soon, but it seemed everything in their relationship seemed to happen in high speed. Piper wasn't sure how she liked that. She didn't want to mess things up cause they happened too fast and one of them wasn't ready for it. She didn't want to lose Alex, because she had a premonition that it would hurt very much to see the black-haired woman go.

"You know that woman with the black hair, don't you?" Luigi asked Piper with the italian accent he still had after living in New York for almost 25 years already.

"Uhm, yes, that's my girlfriend and her mother actually." Piper told him.

"Girlfriend? What happened to Larry, your boyfriend?" Luigi was a little surprised but Piper knew that he wouldn't care as long as she was happy. It was important to him to have a good relationship with everyone working at his restaurant. He treated everyone as if they were his family. To him, they probably were.

"We broke up. But I ended it. I know this change is fast but Alex makes me happy. More than Larry could actually." Piper told him and her face turned into a dreamy smile.

"Oh that's great. You know everyone who makes Luigi's family happy belongs to the family." he said looking genuinely happy for Piper. "Please bring your girlfriend and her mother a bottle of wine. And they're eating and drinking on me tonight. Making you happy, makes me happy and everyone who makes me happy belongs to the family."

"You don't have to do this. But thank you Luigi." Piper said with gratitude.

"Also I want you to tell Louanne and Carlos to take over your tables. You can concentrate on your girlfriend and her mother. And when they leave you can end your shift. I like seeing you this happy." Luigi told her and smiled at her like a proud dad.

"Oh, thank you so much Luigi. You're the best." Piper knew it would be useless to argue with the man that all this was too much as he would insist that he only wants to make his family happy. So Piper spoke with Louanne and Carlos and grabbed that bottle of wine.


	19. Chapter 19 As the evening continues

Chapter 19: As the evening continues

"Do you mind if I join?" Piper stood next to the table and smiled widely at Alex.

"Not at all. The other tables are served for now? It's great you have some time to sit with us." Alex returned the smile.

"Actually, the other tables aren't my business for tonight anymore. I'll be your personal waitress for tonight." Piper grinned. "Oh and Luigi sends his greetings with this bottle of wine and welcomes you to the family."

"Welcomes me to the family? What are you talking about?" Alex was confused.

Piper let out a laugh. "Luigi sees everyone working here as his family. And that includes all partners. I'm sure he's gonna come over to greet you personally. He is just like that. Very welcoming to everyone."

"Oh, that's great. And thanks for the wine. Or I'll thank Luigi later when he comes over." Alex smiled, happy that Piper could join them.

"So the whole staff here is like a big family? That sounds great." Diane said.

"Yeah. Well that also includes some fights a family has sometimes but I can count on everyone here to help me out even if it isn't work related, which is great and more than I sometimes can expect from my real family."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Diane said.

"Don't be. They're okay. I'm closest with my brother Cal. He's younger than me but we were always close. My brother Danny is way older than me and I never had much connection to him somehow. As for my parents, well I love them but they can be complicated and sometimes rather distant. If it comes to my mother even judgy sometimes. But enough about that. I don't want to ruin this great evening with my family issues." Piper said. "You two know what you want to eat now?"

"Yes." They told Piper and Piper went to the kitchen giving the two orders on to Luigi's son Pepe.

She sat back down at the table and listened to Alex's and Diane's conversation for a bit.

"By the way. This place has excellent service. The waiter's literally read your every wish from your lips." Alex smiled.

"Haha, that's only because you're dating one." Piper laughed. "But usually the service is good too. Maybe not that personal at most times though."

"Yeah. I'm not sure if I would be overly excited if you'd be like this with all your customers." Alex teased.

"Don't worry." Piper smiled.

Just then Luigi came over. "Hello ladies. My dear Piper has told me you are her girlfriend. It's great that you come visiting here. I hope you enjoy the wine and your evening here. And welcome to our little family here." he said looking at Alex and shaking her hand. "Also to you." he turned to Diane and shook her hand. "Order anything you like. Just tell Piper your wishes and she'll bring you whatever you wish for. It's on me tonight. Now please excuse me, I have a kitchen to run."

"It's nice to meet you too Luigi." Alex said and was perplexed when Luigi told them to just order anything and he would treat them. "This is really too much. We didn't come here for a free dinner. I honestly didn't even know Piper worked here until we ran into her this evening."

"Oh, that doesn't matter. As I already told your girlfriend here: someone who makes her happy, makes me happy and everyone who makes me happy belongs to the family. So no buts here. Have a nice evening."

"Wow." Alex was speechless.

"Oh, I left that part out. Sorry, should have told you. He said that earlier. Also that it's useless trying to argue. He's stubborn and has such a big heart to welcome everyone to his family." Piper told Alex.

"Oh wow. I didn't expect any of this." Alex grinned.

"To a wonderful evening." Diane raised her wine glass.

"To a wonderful evening." Alex and Piper answered simultaneously and raised their glasses too.

They had a great evening. They talked for several hours, Piper running to the kitchen every now and then to get the food and everyone the right drinks, mother and daughter caught up on recent happenings and Diane and Piper got to know each other. When Alex excused herself to the bathroom it was Diane and Piper alone at the table.

"It's great to get to know you Piper. And I know this is soon and we've all not been expecting to meet so soon. But I think this has been one of the best evenings I had in a long time."

"Yeah me too. I really enjoyed our evening. Even if I thought this would be a regular work night." Piper laughed.

"Not so much, is it? I am really happy for my daughter that you two found each other. I can see that you make her happier than I have ever seen her. Just keep in mind that you can also do the opposite and please try to avoid it. I've seen her down after a relationship she was invested in and it broke my heart. She is more in this than she was in the past relationship I was talking about, so this would be even more devastating."

"I won't. I promise. I feel happier with Alex than I've ever felt my entire life. And I don't want to imagine how this would hurt if anything should happen. I promise I won't do anything that could sabotage this. Alex and what we have is way too important to me to ever mess this up. You have an amazing daughter, Diane." Piper answered sincerely. Diane smiled widely.

Alex returned and asked: "When does your shift end, Piper?"

"It ends when you leave. So whenever you are ready to leave I'll come with you." Piper explained.

"This evening just keeps getting better." Alex felt so happy. She had expected a nice evening out with her mom, catching up on things and being asked about Piper. Not all this.

Eventually the evening had to come to an end. "I need to go home, I have the morning shift tomorrow." Diane said and got up. "If you two want to stay, don't mind me."

"It's okay. I think it is about time. Polly will never let me hear the end of it if I fall asleep tomorrow morning." Piper laughed. "So I'll be going home too."

They said goodbye to Luigi and thanked him again for the great food and the warm welcome and left. As Piper's place was on the way from Luigi's to the next subway station the three women decided to walk Piper home and Diane and Alex would go on to the subway. When they stood in front of Piper's apartment building Alex and Piper felt sad that the evening already ended but were happy how unexpected the day had turned out.

"So. Goodnight then. It was great meeting you, Diane. I hope we will see each other again soon. I really had a great evening." Piper said and hugged Diane goodbye.

"Same here. You're a great person and good for my daughter. I'm sure we will see each other quite often in the future." Diane smiled and hugged Piper tightly. Then took some distance to let the two lovers say goodnight.

"Thank you Piper, for this great evening. You are amazing. This was not how I imagined you'd meet my mom, but it turned out amazing. I am so happy you two get along so well. But I didn't really doubt you would." Alex smiled widely.

"Oh, don't mention it. I had a really great evening. The best in a while. Even though, I have to say I had a great evening on saturday too… I can't decide. Both were amazing." Piper grinned.

"Mhm. Saturday? What happened saturday evening?" Alex chuckled which earned herself a light punch in the arm from Piper.

"Mhm. Now that you say it I don't really remember." Piper said she grinned at Alex and gave her a kiss. It stayed sweet and innocent and didn't turn passionate like many other times, as Piper remembered Alex's mom standing not that far from them.

Diane tried to give the two lovers some privacy but could hear and see their interaction and again felt so happy for her daughter.

"Goodnight Pipes. Sleep well and dream of me." Alex said lovingly.

"I will. Goodnight, Al." she replied. After a short goodbye kiss they parted and Piper went inside the building.

Alex walked to the subway with her mom. Diane smiled. She remembered when Alex was younger some friends tried to call Alex Al or other nicknames. She would never let anyone call her anything but Alex. The only one she allowed to call her Ally was Diane. But that was as far as it got.

"Why are you smiling like this?" Alex asked her mom.

"Oh, nothing. I just remembered, how no one was allowed to call you anything but Alex. The only thing you allowed was me to call you Ally. It's interesting to see that this has changed." Diane chuckled.

"Oh, I know. I still don't like nicknames. I can't stop Nicky from making them up so I just stopped trying, but Piper is different. I feel special when she calls me that. If others do it it just sounds so wrong and I still don't like it."

"You really love her, don't you?" Diane looked at her daughter now all serious.

"Yes I do. We haven't told each other that yet though. I mean I think she feels the same, but the moment just wasn't there yet, I guess."

"That's okay. I'm sure the moment will come and you won't miss it." Diane smiled at Alex.

They got to the subway station but as both had to go different directions they parted at the entrance.

"See you soon, mom. I love you." Alex hugged her tightly.

"I'm looking forward, Ally. Love you too. I'm proud of you." Diane said and went to her platform.


	20. Chapter 20 Dreaded Dinner

Chapter 20: Dreaded Dinner

The rest of the week went by uneventfully. Polly and Piper worked further on their plan for PoPi and slowly got far enough to start looking for places they could have a little store in and have a few extra rooms for production and an office for their company. They had made appointments all over the next week, luckily all during mornings so Piper could keep working her shifts at the restaurant.

On wednesday Piper's mother called. She had heard from friends in her country club that Piper broke up with Larry and was startled she didn't get that information from her daughter. She convinced her to go for dinner on the following saturday. Piper knew that now eventually the time had come that she needed to tell her parents about her girlfriend and her attraction to the same sex. She wasn't overly excited to meet her parents for dinner but knew it needed to be done.

Friday morning she texted with Alex. She hadn't told her yet she would meet her parents the following day.

[Alex: Wanna go see a movie saturday night?]

[Piper: Another day? Can't do saturday night.]

[Alex: They're just playing this movie this saturday and it's one of my favourites. It's saturday or never. Can't you cancel?]

[Piper: Oh that sucks. I would love to go with you. Sounds much better. But I can't cancel.]

[Alex: If it does sound better, why can't you just change plans?]

[Piper: I'm having dinner with my parents. My mom was upset because I didn't tell her about the break up with Larry.]

[Alex: So have dinner with them on sunday? Please]

[Piper: Sorry Al. I wish I could, but my mom made it pretty clear she won't do anything but saturday and won't change her plans.]

[Alex: Okay. I wish you could come though.]

[Piper: Me too. But this one is important. I have a few things to tell.]

[Alex: About us?]

[Piper: Yeah. About me being attracted to girls and also having a girlfriend. Not looking forward to that conversation.]

[Alex: That doesn't sound excited.]

[Piper: No I'm not. I have no idea how they will react.]

[Alex: Want me to come?]

[Piper: Thanks for offering but this is a thing I have to do on my own. I should have told them years ago.]

[Alex: Text me if you change your mind.]

[Piper: I will.]

[Alex: If you want you can come over after and tell me how it went?!]

[Piper: I would like that. I will text you after the dinner if I'll come, okay?]

[Alex: Okay. Whatever makes you happy.]

[Piper: You do.]

[Alex: Sap.]

Piper rolled her eyes but laughed and put her phone at her nightstand. She was dreading the next day and the conversation that would come that evening. Saturday came faster than she wished it would.

At seven she met her parents at a restaurant that was for her taste a bit too fancy and high class but her parents chose and she didn't want to complain.

"Hey mom, Hi dad." she said as she sat down at the table where her parents were already waiting.

"Hi, darling. It's nice to see you." her dad replied. Her mom gave her a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Her parents, mainly her mother, started talking about the current things that annoyed her - her friend Rachel who had decided to adopt a dog which destroyed a few things when they were visiting, the company who delivered and installed the new fridge that didn't come the day they were supposed to or the strange behaviour from her friends in the country club. The list went on. Piper just sat there knowing it was useless to argue so she just listened and nodded every now and then. The waiter came and took their orders.

"So. Why does my friend Justine have to tell me about my own daughter breaking up with her boyfriend? That is not how I want to find out about things." Carol complained.

"I'm sorry, mom, that you had to find out this way. We haven't talked in a while. I broke up with Larry the day before I went to that workshop in Washington that I told you about. And with the workshop and the days after I was really busy so I forgot to call. I'm sorry." also a black-haired woman had occupied her mind so she was very distracted and forgot. But she wouldn't say that to her parents just yet. Step by step. First the break up, then the attraction to girls and then if her parents were still willing to listen she would tell them about Alex. That was the plan.

"Why though, Piper? He was such a good man? He could give you everything you needed. A safe home, marriage and kids. Why would you give that up so easily?" Carol asked.

"I couldn't do it anymore, mom. I wasn't happy with him, not as happy as I should be. And believe me, this decision to end it wasn't spontaneous. I thought about it for a long time and thought it through." Piper explained.

"But think of the life you would have." Carol said.

Meanwhile the food arrived. It smelled great. Piper suddenly noticed how hungry she was.

"I did. And I decided I didn't want that. I don't want to live my life being unhappy." Piper told her.

"Think about it again, Piper. Maybe Larry will take you back." Carol said completely ignoring that her daughter didn't want what she had just suggested.

Slowly Piper got annoyed with her mother. Why couldn't she just listen and trust that her daughter made the right choices for herself? She wasn't the one who had to live with the choices, but she didn't care if her daughter was happy or not. She just wanted what would make the best impression. That she could tell her friends at the country club about her daughter who has such a nice boyfriend, that they will get married someday and give her lots of gorgeous grandchildren.

"Maybe. But I don't want that mom." Piper tried to stay calm. "I don't want to go back to Larry. Because I don't love him like that anymore. Not enough for a relationship let alone for a marriage. And I already found someone who makes me happy." she added.

"Piper! It hasn't been two weeks yet and you already get yourself into something new? This is not acceptable. Nowhere near the modesty I always taught you." Carol Chapman was outraged.

"Yes mom. I can't help how I feel. I was never as happy with Larry as I am right now. And I now it is soon after the break up, but that doesn't mean I gotta push something this good away just so nobody could possibly have the idea I was cheating on Larry. That's what you think, isn't it?" Piper felt her temper rise.

"Oh, Piper! I want you happy. But do you think throwing away 5 years of your life for a new fling is a good idea?"

"Yes mom. It is a very good idea. And I met Alex after the break up from Larry so I didn't end the relationship because I found somebody else."

"Okay. I believe you. Who is this Alex? What's his work? Can he provide a secure life for you?" Carol pushed.

"Alex is my girlfriend. And yes, you heard right. SHE is a woman. I love her and she is the best thing that happened to me in the last couple years. Maybe even the best thing in my life."

"PIPER ELIZABETH CHAPMAN!" her mom yelled. "You're not in a relationship with a woman!"

"Yes mom, I am. And to be honest she is not my first girlfriend. I've known I liked girls since I was 16. I just didn't know how to tell you. You remember my 'friend' Helena? You nearly walked in on us that one day." Now her temper kicked in and she just couldn't hold back. Her mom always managed to get her so upset she said things she never wanted to say.

"No you don't. This is just some imagination of yours. This is not acceptable. We're leaving, Bill. Piper, call us as soon as this escapade of yours is over." Piper sat there completely dumbfounded and was so speechless she just watched her parents leave. Her father hadn't said one word the whole dinner and looked at her very disappointed when she told her parents about Alex. While they were leaving she heard her mother say "I won't accept this. My children aren't gay." Carol spat out the last word like an insult.

Piper had expected that her parents wouldn't react with happiness and all excited. But she hadn't expected this disapprobation and ignorance. Suddenly she felt so lonely and sad and hurt like she had been in a boxing match and had no boxing gloves to defend herself with.

[Alex: How did it go? Or how is it going?]

[Piper: Coming over.]

[Alex: You okay?]

[Piper: No.]

Piper left the restaurant and walked to the subway. She felt completely numb and just wanted to get to her girlfriend. Being in her arms and feeling her warmth surely would make her feel better.


	21. Chapter 21 Plus and minus

Chapter 21: Plus and minus

When Alex opened the door she was so happy to see her. Alex looked at her with a smile that said she was happy to see her but her face also showed worry.

"It was so …" Piper broke out into tears. Alex quickly closed the distance between them and pulled her girlfriend into a hug. "... horrible." Piper managed to say between loud sobs.

"It's okay. Come in. I am here." Alex tried to comfort her. They went inside Alex's apartment and Alex moved the crying Piper to her couch. They sat down and Alex let Piper cry in her arms for a while until she calmed down a bit. She stroked her back, which Piper enjoyed and helped her feel calmer.

"Thank you." Piper said quietly. "I'm sorry I am this mess."

"Don't mention it. Everyone has good and bad days. And I am here for you. Just as you will be there for me when I have a bad day or evening, I hope."

"I will be. Promise." Piper gave her a weak smile. Alex thought she looked cute with her puffy eyes and cuddled into her like that.

"You want to talk about it?" Alex offered.

"I need a drink first." Piper said.

"Okay. I will make you one. Special wishes?" Alex asked kissed Piper on her wet cheek and got up to make the drinks.

"No special wishes. I'll take whatever you got."

A couple minutes later Alex came back with two drinks, stood them on the table and sat back down next to her girlfriend.

"Thank you." Piper said and smiled at Alex.

"You don't have to talk about it yet, if you don't want to. We can just sit here and cuddle or talk about something else. Whatever makes you feel good." Alex suggested.

"No it's okay. I just didn't expect them to react like they did. I mean I didn't expect them to be happy. I expected it would rather be a negative reaction. But not as bad as this. They literally walked out on me, Alex. I told them that I broke up with Larry because I didn't love him anymore and that I found someone who makes me so much happier. First my mom insisted I'd think about it and that Larry surely would take me back. When I told them I didn't want that, because I found someone that makes me happy and whom I love, they seemed surprised but eventually seemed okay with it. But when I told them you were a woman my mom yelled at me that this wasn't acceptable and I should call her as soon as this 'escapade' is over. Then they just got up and left." Piper had tried to stay calm but eventually started to cry again. Alex held her tight in her arms.

"You love me?" Alex said sounding surprised.

Piper chuckled between two sobs. "I just told you all if this and that is the only thing you heard?"

"No, I mean I heard the rest too." Alex hurried to reply but got interrupted by Piper.

"It's okay. Yes, I do. I love you, Alex. With all of my heart." Piper said and turned to look at Alex.

"I love you, too, Piper." Alex replied and smiled widely before pulling her into a sweet kiss that was filled with emotions.

They just said there cuddled into each others arms for a while and didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry that your parents reacted that way. I hope they will come around one day and change their mind, because they will be missing out on an amazing daughter." Alex whispered to Piper.

"Thank you. I hope so. It just hurt, you know? I hope that someday they will accept me the way I am and not try to push me into the picture they want to have and show to their friends. But I am not sure if this will happen. Especially my mother is not likely to do that. She is the typical wasp and also narcissistic. So I am not expecting much to be honest." Piper quietly and slightly sad replied.

"I am sorry to hear that. But you'll always have me. And my mom loves you. I think she already sees you as part of the family. And your colleagues at Luigi's seemed to be like a family too. So you have a whole big family that loves you. I know they can't replace your biological one, but you're not alone." Alex tried to comfort her.

"Thank you Alex. It's right. I do have a second family." she smiled.

"And who knows, maybe miracles will happen and your mom comes around, noticing she misses her daughter."

"Ugh, I am not sure about this. She doesn't love many people that aren't herself. I know that sounds hard, but I recently found this checklist: Is your mom a narcissist? And most of the arguments on the checklist were applicable to my mother. Just some examples: Every conversation has to be about her and her interests. That's my mother. She is criticising you the whole time and knows what is the best for you. Also so Carol. Status is important to her. She's always looking to impress other people and gaining their attention. Yes. When I'm doing something on my own she makes me feel like I am doing it wrong and she could do it so much better. So true. And those are just a few arguments on that list. I could go on and most points would totally match Carol's behaviour." Piper explained.

"Oh, wow. I am happy my mother is the right opposite of that. Must have been hard when you were younger to live up to the expectation, right?" Alex said being shocked by her girlfriends explanations.

"I at some point accepted that she wouldn't tell me ever that she is proud of me and I couldn't do as she wanted me to. But it took a long time to get there in which I tried my best to live up to her expectations and be the daughter she wanted me to be. I just wanted her to say she's proud of me and I did good. It was so relieving and freeing when I finally accepted that this wouldn't happen."

"Wow. And I thought I had a rough childhood growing up without money. But I guess having money doesn't always make life better as I imagined it as a kid." Alex replied. "I always thought life would be better if we had more money. Probably true though, but money doesn't buy happiness as they say."

"It's okay. I had my brother Cal and my dad is okay. I always felt closer to him than my mom anyway, but I mean she's my mom, I can't just cut her out of my life." Piper said.

"It's funny how we grew up so differently, like the complete opposite, and work so well together." Alex mentioned.

"Yeah, well don't they say opposite attract? It's like two magnets. Plus and minus stick together. The same poles push each other away." Piper replied. "So as magnets with opposite poles are hard to break apart, I think you're stuck with me now." Piper smiled and looked at Alex lovingly.

"I am totally fine with that." Alex chuckled and smiled at Piper.

They shared a kiss and kept talking the whole evening about the rest of the week, the businesses improving and their future plans. The dinner and Piper's parents didn't come up again.

_I know this chapter was short but they'll get longer soon._


	22. Chapter 22 How did this happen?

Chapter 22: How did this happen?

The next days went by pretty fast. Cal had heard about the fight between Piper and their parents but they wouldn't tell him the reason for the bad air between the parents and his sister. So Piper had invited him to meet at The Liquid Temptation on wednesday evening because she missed him and wanted to tell him in person about what happened. She knew he would be better with her news than her parents. Her brother always was happy for her as long as she was happy and he accepted many things not being the musterchild himself.

They sat in a booth and already had one or two drinks.

"I'm sorry our parents reacted so poorly about your confession." Cal said after Piper told him about the dinner. "But could you imagine Carol and Bill being genuinely interested in our decisions and things like that? They want for us what paints the picture of a perfect family to everyone else. If it's a lie? Doesn't matter. The picture is the thing that counts. But even for them the reaction and behaviour is poor."

"Thanks, Cal. I know and I didn't expect a happy reaction from them but the rejection hurt nonetheless."

"I know, sis. So tell me about this girlfriend of yours." Cal asked and saw his sister's face light up at the mentioning of her girlfriend.

"Oh, she's just amazing. Her name is Alex. We met at the workshop I told you about. She is tall, long black hair, hot…" Piper started as her thoughts trailed of seeing said person enter the bar. She came in and walked to a woman sitting at the bar. Piper had seen her a bit earlier and noticed the woman with frizzy red-blonde hair sitting there obviously waiting for someone. They hugged and Alex genuinely smiled at the woman. They seemed so familiar and happy to see each other. Piper couldn't listen to what her brother said or asked. She only saw Alex sitting there with that woman she didn't know obviously having a lot of fun and joking around.

"Earth to Piper!?" Cal tried getting her attention. "What's going on? You keep staring at that woman over there. Wait. Tall, long black hair, hot… Is that your girlfriend?"

"Yeah. That's Alex." Piper only replied, still anxious about the scene she witnessed.

"I'm sure that's just a friend. You look like you're about to go over and punch her." Cal tried to calm her.

"I .. I can't I am going to leave. I am sorry Cal. Catch up another time? I'll text you." Piper was confused and furious. Was that bulky haired woman hitting on her girlfriend? If she did Alex surely was enjoying it from what it looked like. Piper needed to get out before her temper got the better of her. She didn't care if Alex saw her now, she just needed to get out of the place.

"You know, that's why I love you Vause, you always surprise me." Piper heard the woman say to Alex. Then she saw red and ran out.

She nearly ran home. She couldn't think straight anymore. Why would Alex do this? Who was this woman? She wasn't a friend, now was she? Which friend would tell Alex that she loved her? Piper couldn't believe it. She felt so hurt. At home she ran in, slammed the door which earned her a few knocks from neighbours and went to get a drink.

-Alex's POV-

She was looking forward to the evening. Finally a night out with her best friend Nicky. She had to postpone it quite a few times because she was so busy with the business planning and a certain blonde wouldn't leave her mind.

When she entered The Liquid Temptation she saw Nicky sitting at the bar sipping on a drink already.

"Hey Nick. Finally. I'm sorry I had to cancel so often." Alex said and went to hug her best friend.

"Hey glasses. Great to see you. I already thought you were slowly getting tired of me." Nicky replied.

"Never." Alex laughed. "How could I ditch my best friend?" She ordered herself a drink.

"Now tell me about that girl of yours!" Nicky had been asking her through texts pretty often already but she hadn't told her much. So Alex told Nicky how they met and that she already met Diane and everything went so well at the moment. Nicky was happy that her friend sounded so much in love and so happy.

"I am surprised that she already met your mother though. How many girls have you introduced to her like a week after meeting them?" Nicky chuckled.

"Not one. Only Piper. But that was more of an accident and not planned. We went to the restaurant where Piper happened to be working that evening. And she was our waitress. That's how they met. But my mom already likes her a lot and as far as she told me Piper loves my mother too."

"Yeah, I mean, come on, who doesn't love Diane?!" Nicky laughed and then turned a bit more serious. "You know, that's why I love you Vause, you always surprise me." she told Alex. She never would have thought Alex would commit to a relationship as fast as she had now with Piper.

Just then Alex saw a blonde woman passing in a fast pace. Was that Piper? That would be a weird coincidence, wouldn't it? But she had said she liked going to the same bar too. So it could have been her. But why wouldn't she have come over and say hi?

"Oh wow. Blondie here must have been mad at something. That grumpy face was not pleased." Nicky joked.

"I think that was Piper. Why wouldn't she come over and say hi? I mean you two could've finally met?!" Alex sounded confused and a little worried.

"That was her? She is hot. You were right about that. But don't worry, not my type." Nicky teased. When her friend didn't answer she asked: "You told her that we are best friends and what I look like?"

"Yeah, I mean I have told her that you're my best friend, but I'm not sure if I described how you look?!" Alex replied.

"Okay. Do you think she thinks I'm someone else? I mean from the outside, if you don't know it we look very familiar and close. People could jump to wrong conclusions. If they know we're both gay." Nicky tried to find an explanation.

Suddenly Alex realized. "You think she thought I was cheating on her? Oh no. Why does she need to jump to such conclusions?"

"Maybe because she is insecure? Sometimes people have experienced that in other relationships and jump to those conclusions because they've been hurt like that before?!" Nicky tried. Alex was surprised at her friends explanation and quick thinking.

"Oh shit. I'm sorry Nicky. I think I need to cut this evening short. I'll make it up to you. Bye."

"Leave Vause. I'm okay. Go and show blondie how much you want her. Maybe make her remember tomorrow when she can't walk anymore!" Nicky laughed and finished her drink. Alex didn't her her friends remark anymore as she was already out of the bar making her way towards Piper's apartment.

When she arrived she kept knocking on Piper's door for a while.

"Come on Piper. Open up!" Alex shouted.

"No." came an angry reply from the inside which validated Alex's suspicions that the blonde indeed had jumped to the wrong conclusions.

"Please Piper. I know you've been at the bar, I know what you've seen and from your behaviour that you got the wrong conclusions." Alex begged. "Please let me in so we can talk!" a neighbour passed Alex with a curious look on his face. Alex shortly answered him the question that was literally written over his face. "She thinks I cheated on her. I was just meeting my best friend." To the door she loudly repeated "Please Piper. Open the door!"

"Why should I?" Piper yelled. Was she drunk?

"So we can talk? Please." Alex replied. "That was Nicky. My best friend for fucks sake."

"What?" Alex stumbled into the apartment as the door suddenly opened that she had leaned against.

"That woman in the bar was my best friend Nicky. I know you tow haven't met yet, but I hoped the circumstances were a little different." Alex said.

"Oh, shit." Piper blushed and looked abashed. "I'm sorry."

"Have you been drinking Piper?" Alex asked.

"Not much. I'm not drunk. I am so sorry Alex, for thinking that you would do that and running off. It's just…" Piper started but was cut off by Alex who kissed her and stopped her from going on.

"It's okay. Just please don't do it again. You scared me there for a moment." Alex said when they parted.

"I'll give my best." Piper now smiled at Alex. "I love you Alex."

"I love you too Pipes. Don't ever forget that." she replied. They kissed. Soon the kiss started to heat up and their hands were all over each other. Alex pulled on Piper's shirt and soon they rid each other of their clothes.

_I'll leave the rest up to your imagination. I'm not good at writing sexy scenes but feel free to let your imagination go wild._


	23. Chapter 23 Bad memories

Chapter 23: Bad memories

The next morning they both woke up around the same time still cuddled up in each other.

"Good morning, love." Alex said in her raspy voice that was even raspier from just waking up."

"Good morning Alex." Piper smiled at her widely, enjoying the close contact to her girlfriend and their naked skin touching.

"I know this has been your first time with a woman. I hope you feel okay?!" Alex wondered.

"Okay? I feel so many things but okay is not one of them. I feel amazing, wow… I'm not sure if I even have the right words for last night." Piper said all excited.

"Okay." Alex grinned widely. She felt so happy. Even though Piper was new to this she obviously was a natural at this. Alex couldn't remember when she had had such good sex.

"I feel like I owe you an explanation though, for my behaviour last evening. I am sorry I reacted like that."

"You don't owe me anything, Pipes."

"No but I want to. You know, when I was I think I was 12 or so I caught my dad cheating on my mother. I ended up being grounded. It isn't a good memory. Not because of me getting grounded but because of my cheating father. It hurt to see him with another woman that wasn't my mom. And my mom wouldn't admit it it but I saw what it did to her. You know, for years she had a little problem with drinking. She wouldn't admit that but she was close to being an alcoholic." Piper told Alex and kept on talking how she saw her father that one time.

**FLASHBACK**

Piper and her friend Sara stood in front of the cinema waiting for the older boy to come back and give them their tickets.

"Piper, will you please take off those stupid glasses?" Sara asked annoyed.

"Fine, but stop saying my name. I'm Zoe. Call me Zoe." Piper insisted.

"Okay, Zoe. Here he comes." Sara said.

"Here you go. Two tix to Dazed and Confused. Have fun." the boy said when he handed them the tickets and left.

"Thanks." Sara replied politely.

"What if it's rated R because something really inappropriate happens, something that scars us for life?" Piper was still not sure if they should go see a movie they weren't expected to see.

"Will you stop? We've got the tickets. It's all cool. Why not try to enjoy it?" Sarah was getting annoyed.

Piper looked across the street and saw her father leaving a diner. He wasn't alone though.

"Oh, my God, my father!" Piper said to Sara.

"Yeah, right. Quit being such a spaz." Sara though Piper was slowly getting a bit paranoid.

"No, seriously, look across the street." Piper pointed to the other side of the street. "That's my dad!"

"Oh, shit." was all Sara said to that.

"See?" Piper knew she was right.

"Oh, shit." Sara replied when they saw Piper's father get closer to the car being very close to the woman who accompanied him.

"Who is that?" Piper asked, not being sure if she really wanted to know, when he kissed the woman and they got in the car. Piper's dad didn't see her standing on the other side of the street. Piper suddenly felt really sad and angry at her dad. What he did was cheating. That woman he just kissed was not her mother. And he was married to her mother. This was wrong. He shouldn't do that!

"Maybe the movie will take your mind off it. I gave the guy 10 extra bucks to buy the tickets for us." Sara said and tried to make Piper come to the movie with her. Piper wasn't so sure if the movie would help her not to think about what she just witnessed. If her mom knew? She couldn't, right? She wouldn't let that happen. Men shouldn't kiss women they're not married to.

When returning home Piper had thought a lot about her dad's action and whether to tell her mother and came to the conclusion that is was best to tell her mother. This wasn't right. Her dad definitely shouldn't do anything like that.

A few days later she had found enough strength to tell her mother. She found her mother in the kitchen. "Mom?" she cautiously said.

Carol held out her hand having the grocery bags on the kitchen counter. "A hand would be nice." She said.

"Mom, I have to tell you something." Piper was still cautious. She didn't really want to make her mom sad but thought she needed to know.

"What? Oh, good heavens." she said looking out of the window towards the neighbours.  
"The Neals finally decide to repaint and they choose that colour? I've gotta call Barbara."

"Wait, Mom?" Piper couldn't wait for her mom to finish that phone talk. This was way more important than some house colour. And she needed to do it now because she wasn't sure if she would have the courage to do it later.

"What?" Carol asked impatiently.

"I really wanna talk to you about something I saw." Piper answered quietly.

"Was it worse than the Neals' puke-green house?"

"Yes."

"Well, that's saying something. What is it, dear?"

"Well, the other day, Sara and I went to the movies at the Suffolk."

"Sara B. or Sara H.?"

"Sara H." Piper answered, not sure why this was important.

"Hmm. Go on." Carol listened and moved closer to Piper.

"I, I saw Daddy." she said shyly. She wanted to back out but knew that now that she started she also needed to tell everything to finish what she started.

"Okay."

"He was with someone. A lady someone. He kissed her." Piper said almost apologetically.

Her mom took a moment to react, just shortly shook her head a little and asked Piper: "What movie did you and Sara H. see at the Suffolk?" Piper could hear her mom's voice trembling but her expression on her face didn't change at all.

"Um, Dazed and Confused, but…" Piper was confused. How could her mom be so calm?

"Piper Elizabeth Chapman, you're grounded." Carol said rather breathlessly.

"What?" Piper couldn't believe this. Why was she getting grounded? Her dad did the wrong thing! Was this the gratefulness she got for being honest with her mother?

"That is an R-rated movie and you are not 17, and I did not give you permission to see that movie. How do you even get tickets? You know, I don't want you hanging around with that Sara H. She is a bad influence." Carol turned back to cleaning and acted like nothing happened. Piper was deeply confused about her mother's behaviour.

"Please put away the groceries while I call Barbara. You know, that colour is actually making me feel nauseous." was all Carol added and Piper followed her orders and put away the groceries. She wasn't so sure anymore if telling the truth always was so crucial.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

"Wow. And your parents never got divorced?" Alex asked surprised.

"No. For my mom it's the picture that counts. And what would the neighbours and her friends think if it came out that her oh so dear husband was seeing other women and they got divorced? She would rather keep it secret and let him hurt her." Piper explained.

"Ouch. You said women. There wasn't just this one you saw him with?"

"No. I didn't count. There were a few. I'm sure I don't know of all of them." Piper said.

"It's okay. I promise you, I won't cheat on you ever. You don't need to worry about that." Alex said empathetically.

Piper smiled at her and felt happy. Happy for being with Alex, being so close to her and being able to tell her everything.


	24. Chapter 24 Birthday preparations

Chapter 24: Birthday preparations

The next week turned out to be pretty hectic as Piper was organizing Polly's birthday party the following saturday. The party wasn't supposed to be big but there were quite a few things that needed to be organized. Polly was very grateful for her friends help. Polly also had asked Piper to bring Alex. She wanted to get to know the woman who had stolen her friends heart so fast and see who she was. They had met that one morning Polly ran in on them but they hadn't had a chance to get to know each other.

They were sitting together making some of the decoration. Polly had insists that there will be a few handmade items around the room. Piper tried to argue that they could also easily just buy them but Polly wasn't having any of it.

"So, how are you and Pete?" Piper was curious. "You're hitting four months now, right?"

"Yes we are. I'm not so sure actually. I mean he's hot and the sex is really good. But there are so many things, I mean little things, that I am often so annoyed about. And when they add up it's they're not so small anymore, you know what I mean?." Polly answered.

"Wow. So are you staying with him, or is it too much? Are you going to break up with him?" Piper wanted to know.

"I don't know Piper. It's a weird situation right now. I mean I get that everyone has flaws and isn't perfect. But sometimes I think maybe Pete has one annoying trait too much for me to ignore it you know?"

"Yeah, I totally understand you. Just don't end it too quickly. Make sure that you'll be fine and won't regret your decision. It won't be the same if you changed your mind and would ask him to get back together. I don't believe second tries work." Piper's thoughts trailed off a little.

"I promise I will. Alex already annoying you?" Polly chuckled.

"No. Alex is fantastic. I haven't found a thing yet that annoys me. It's like she's perfect." as soon as her girlfriend was mentioned the recently often seen goofy smile returned to Piper's face. "But that's why I broke up with Larry. I thought about it for such a long time. If I was just setting my expectations too high or why he got me annoyed and upset so fast sometimes. Combined with not feeling happy anymore this was the main reason for the break up." Piper explained.

"Okay. But you and Alex are good? You sound so happy. I'm so happy for you!" Polly told her friend.

"Yes. So good. I had a little moment of embarrassment two days ago but we're over that and I am so happy. Oh, also I told my parents I like girls and they're not talking to me anymore." Piper just let it all out.

"Woah, slow it down? What did you do to embarrass you? And it was time you told your parents, wasn't it? I take it they didn't react happy?" Polly was surprised by the sudden wave of information.

"Okay. I saw Alex with her best friend at the bar when I met with Cal but didn't know it was her best friend and some jealousy combined with the history of my cheating father got the better of me. Nothing I am particularly proud of to be honest. And the dinner with my parents didn't go very well. My mom was upset I broke up with Larry and forgot to tell her and when I told them I met someone they seemed to adjust to it a little but when I said that this someone I met was a women they got up and left. I felt so stupid standing there alone all of a sudden." Piper' face screwed up by the bad memory of last saturday.

"I'm sorry to hear that. How are you with that?" Polly worried for her friend.

"I'm okay. I mean I didn't expect a happy reaction, but I didn't expect this. I can't change them, but I wish they could just see that I am happy and be happy for me no matter who it is that makes me happy, you know? I went to Alex after. She was great, I mean I literally cried in her arms for an eternity and she was just there comforting me and being so supportive. Even though I hate that my parents can't accept the fact that I am with a woman I think she is the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"I'm so happy for you. That Alex is so good to you. Even though I've just met her shortly she seems like a good person. But I want to get to know her better. She still has to pass my best friend check." Polly said. "So bring her to the party tomorrow."

"I will. We talked about it yesterday." Piper said.

"Woah, I get that you're in love. You've seen each other daily now? I mean you said you embarrassed yourself two days ago and you talked about the party yesterday?" Polly wondered.

"Yes and no. After the bar incident Alex came over to resolve the misunderstanding and kinda stayed over." Piper told her.

"Ah, I get it. Oh my god, did you guys…" Polly was way too curious.

"POLLY! I don't think that's any of your business. But yes. We did." Piper grinned sheepishly.

"I'm your best friend. Of course it is my business!" Polly replied. "How was it? Not too many details though, please."

"It was amazing. It's like I just discovered what sex is supposed to be. All of the guys I 've been with must have been really bad in bed. But I tell you Polly, this was the best I ever had." Piper's smile widened and Polly saw from her dreamy look that her friend had pictures running through her mind right now that she didn't want to imagine but she felt so happy for her.

"So good, huh?" Polly smirked.

"Better." Piper replied.

They spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and making the decorations. Then decided they would go out for a drink after.

"You know, as I am not gonna have too much time tomorrow at the party as I'm the person everyone will want to talk to, why don't you invite Alex for a drink tonight?" Polly wondered.

"I can ask her." Piper replied and got her phone out.

[Piper: Hey. Polly wanted to know if you'd like to come with us, heading over to Liquid Temptation in a bit.]

Piper didn't have to wait long for an answer.

[Alex: Sure. Can I bring Nicky? It's time you two get to know each other. ;-)]

[Piper: Of course. Can't wait to meet her. And to see you.]

"Alex is coming and bringing her best friend Nicky." Piper let Polly know.

Piper and Polly arrived ten minutes later at the bar and sat down. Just a few minutes later Piper saw Alex and Nicky walk in and waved to them. When Alex noticed her they made eye contact and smiled at each other. They came walking over and sat down, never breaking the eye contact.

"Hey guys. Stop eyefucking each other and introduce everyone, will ya?" Nicky voiced.

"Shut up, Nichols." Alex returned but introduced her to Piper and Piper introduced Polly to everyone.

Polly rolled her eyes when she heard the wild haired woman's snarky comment. Especially now she felt Nicky's eyes wandering all over her. Did this woman check her out? What was she doing? But she was here to get to know Alex, her best friends new girlfriend. The conversation started about rather general topics. Polly mostly had her attention on Alex and Piper, their interaction and kept asking Alex about most the things she wanted to know to figure out if she was good for her best friend.

It got quieter later in the evening and everyone was enjoying their drinks. The conversation had died down a little.

"Interrogation over now?" Alex laughed.

Polly blushed a little, she had tried to be subtle and not get too pushy but obviously the black-haired woman had felt like that. "I'm sorry if I was too curious, I just need to make sure you're good for Piper. I don't want to see her hurt and people in love can sometimes oversee things that they don't want to see."

"And what's the conclusion of your test?" Alex wanted to know.

"I can see that you two are very much in love. I can see that you make her happier than I've seen her before. And I think you're a good person. So I'm happy for the two of you." Polly told her sincerely happy for them.

"That's nice to know. Thanks, I guess." Alex chuckled and looked at Piper with a look on her face that showed the love she felt for her girlfriend and how happy she was right at this moment.


	25. Chapter 25 Private Party

Chapter 25: Private party

Polly's birthday party the next day was great. Everything went as planned and they were a small and nice group. Polly had invited friends and family but kept the number of party guests under 30. Piper helped all evening to see if everyone was happy or needed anything. While Alex was amazed to see this side of Piper, which she found surprisingly hot, with her being all busy and in charge, she also wanted to spend time with her girlfriend. Piper had organized this party. She wanted her to also be able to enjoy it and not just run around making sure everyone else is happy.

"Do you need a hand?" Alex offered.

"Huh, I think I'm good. You're a guest, Alex. Enjoy the party!" Piper told her.

"I might enjoy it more if you would dance with me." Alex grinned.

"I would like that. But as I planned this I am the host kind of."

"No one said you can't do both. Be a good host but also enjoy the party you did plan. I know you do this for Polly and you want to be a good friend and seeing you so bossy and in charge is such a turn on. But I also want you to have fun tonight. And not be too spent, cause I got plans with you tonight." she smiled at her seductively. Piper was immediately turned on immensely.

"What plans?" Piper's voice quivered. Her head already presented her different images that she would enjoy and wondered what exactly her girlfriend had planned.

"Oh where is the surprise if I told you already?" Alex teased.

"Ugh, Alex. You're the worst. First you put these images in my head and now I want to go home. And enjoy a rather private party instead of the one that I planned." Piper answered.

"I'd like to see those pictures. And I'd enjoy this private party you mentioned very much, but as you planned this one I'll leave the decision to you. We could also stay and dance. Even though I don't know anyone but your friend Polly I still enjoy the party." Alex said hoping Piper would decide not to stay.

"Ugh, right now I want nothing more than to go home with you and do those things my mind is picturing right now. But I think Polly will kill me if I just disappear." Piper sighed.

"Okay. We'll stay. It's okay." Alex said.

"Nope. We're not. I'll find Polly and tell her we're leaving, she'll throw it at me the next week, but I don't care. I'll be back in a minute." Piper said and left to look for her best friend. Alex smiled widely and couldn't wait to get to either her or Piper's place. She didn't really care where they went. Soon Piper came back and rushed past Alex saying: "Let's leave. I think I pissed off Polly!"

"You sure you don't want to stay?" Alex tried halfheartedly.

"Why? Do you want to?" Piper looked at her surprised.

"Uhm, no I'm curious about those pictures you talked about" she grinned "but I don't want to cause trouble between you and your best friend."

"Thoughtful. But too late, I already pissed her off so there's nothing I can change. And I actually don't want to." Piper bluntly told her.

They got an uber and Piper gave the driver her address. It wasn't far to her place but long enough so Piper couldn't keep her hand from touching Alex on the way so they were sitting in the back of the car hands all over each other and kissing while trying to keep it appropriate as they were both aware the driver kept looking in the rearview mirror. When they were there both women got out and Piper got her keys out and let Alex into her apartment. They entered and soon their hands were all over each other. The pair's kisses started to get more intense and passionate. Soon they left a trail of clothes from the apartment door leading towards Piper's bedroom.

"You're so beautiful." Piper said breathy during kisses. "And hot." she added.

Alex chuckled. "So are you. God, so hot. Such a turn on. What about those pictures?"

"Mhm. This is close. But you'll see soon what I had in my mind." Piper smiled and pushed the now naked Alex onto her bed.

Soon the two women were intertwined and enjoying each others touches, kisses and moans more and more.

"Getting Polly pissed at me for this was so worth it." Piper chuckled a bit later, her breath still a bit laboured.

"Wow. We just had sex and the first thing that comes to your mind is your best friend and that she's pissed? That's just… I don't know what to say." Alex said in mock anger, trying to look mad but soon her face showed the smile she couldn't hide any longer. She was rather amused by the blonde's confession.

"Well no. Not the first thing. But, ugh, well I can't change it anymore." Alex enjoyed seeing the blonde so timid so quickly.

"It's okay. I was joking. And yes. Totally worth it. Though she's probably not pissed at me, is she?" Alex laughed pulling their naked bodies closer together and her girlfriend into a tight hug.

"No. Probably just me. But that's something to deal with later." Piper said wrapped up in Alex's arms feeling completely content. She felt so close to her right now. Closer than ever to anyone. Not just because they were wrapped up in each other's arms, but emotionally as well. She felt a connection to Alex she hadn't felt like with anyone before. She couldn't exactly put a word to it, but it was great. After a while of contemplating she could tell what this felt like - it felt like home. Like she was finally where she belonged. For a second Piper thought Alex could be the one, her soulmate. Even though she wasn't sure if she believed in the concept of soulmates. She didn't remember why she didn't believe in it. But with Alex everything was different. How could she feel all this after knowing Alex for just three weeks now? 'I guess this is what it feels like when you meet the one you're meant to be with.' Piper thought and looked at her girlfriend with all the love she felt for her.

"I love you, Al." Piper said.

Alex smiled widely. "I love you, too, Pipes."

They kissed goodnight and soon fell asleep in each others arms.

XXXXX

When Piper opened her eyes she saw rays of the sun peeking through the window. For a very short second she was surprised when she noticed she wasn't alone in bed and realized it was her girlfriend's arm that was lying on her back. She smiled at the sight of a still sleeping Alex. She looked so calm and peaceful. She was one of the most beautiful women Piper had seen and she was more than happy that she chose her as the one she wants to be with. Piper was sure a lot of women or men would be keen on switching places with her if they had a chance, but Piper was the one Alex chose.

"Good morning!" Alex grumbled, not even having opened her eyes.

"Good morning, Al." Piper smiled at her.

"Stop staring. It's creepy." Alex chuckled.

"I'm not staring. I'm admiring your beauty." Piper laughed but also felt like she had been caught.

"Sappy much?" Alex laughed.

"Ugh, stop it. I had one of the best mornings in I don't know how long and you ruin it by mocking me." Piper pouted mockingly.

"You're cute when you're pouting." Alex said with a loving look at her girlfriend. Piper turned away pretending to be annoyed but Alex saw right through her and hugged her even when Piper was now with her back to her. Alex kissed her neck and leaned up placing kisses from neck along her jaw until Piper turned her head to kiss her girlfriend on her lips.

"Mhm. I don't want to get up, but I think at some point we'll need to make some breakfast." as on cue Piper's stomach growled.

"Yeah, heard that. This is way too cozy to end but your stomach made a valid point." Alex said and kissed Piper before getting up.

"No. Don't leave." Piper grumbled.

"How do you plan to get food into your stomach if we don't get up?" Alex asked curiously.

"I don't know. I just don't want this to end. It felt so good. But I'm hungry too. That's right."

"You just don't want to get up for that, do you?" Alex laughed.

"No. But now that you aren't in bed here anymore it's way less cozy so I might as well get up."

"Well you were the one who brought up getting up to make breakfast." Alex teased.

"My stomach did. I had nothing to do with it." both women laughed.

Alex and Piper spend most of the day talking on Piper's couch only interrupted by making lunch or some spontaneous make out sessions and a call from Alex's mother. They had a great day and enjoyed their time together. Eventually they had to say goodbye as they both had work the next day but when Piper went to bed that night she already felt like her bed was too empty without her girlfriend in it and she missed her lying next to her and feeling her arms around her.


	26. Chapter 26 Museum

Chapter 26: Museum

The next week passed by pretty quickly. PoPi's had been growing for the last month and Piper and Polly were so busy that they had decided to hire someone for the company to help them out. The last two weeks were spent with trying to keep up with orders and interviewing the people who had applied to the job they offered. Piper and Alex saw each other as often as they could manage and if there was a day they couldn't see each other they texted a lot or called and spoke on the phone for what seemed like an eternity. The interviews went well and Piper and Polly had found a young very lively woman named Lorna Morello to be their help. She would take in orders, pass them on to Piper and Polly and help packaging and sending out the products.

"I'm going to visit the Museum of natural history on friday with my mom. She wanted to know if you'd like to join us?!" Alex told her when they spoke on the phone on wednesday.

"I'd love to. If you want me to come, I'll be there." Alex could hear through the phone that Piper said that with a smile on her face.

"I wouldn't have asked you, if I didn't want you to come. And my mom wants you to come too. So you don't have a choice, actually." Alex chuckled.

Piper smiled at her. "That's totally fine with me."

On friday they met in front of the museum. Piper had been there a bit earlier than Alex and Diane, so she was standing in front of the building waiting for them to arrive when suddenly someone approached her from the side.

"Piper? Funny to see you here! We keep running into each other." it was none other than Larry Bloom.

"Oh my god, Larry?! What a coincidence. You going to visit the museum too?" she asked not believing that this was happening.

"Yeah. Meeting with a friend. He's always late so I think I'm gonna have to wait a bit until he's here. How about you?" he looked at her curiously.

"Also meeting someone. Hope they're going to be here soon." Piper didn't feel like spending the next minutes explaining so she didn't mention that she was in fact meeting her girlfriend and her mother.

"Uhm, I know it's been close to a month since we broke up. But I miss you. And I get all the points you made when you told me you wouldn't want to be with me anymore. But I can change. If this is what it takes to make it work, I'll be more than happy to try, if you want that too." Larry said and stood there anxiously.

"Listen Larry. I'm not gonna repeat this every time we run into each other. My decision was and is final. I won't change my mind. I'm sorry that you're obviously still hurting, but I will not come back. Our relationship was good but it just won't work for me. Also I already…" just then she saw her girlfriend arrive. "Sorry. I gotta go. They're here. See you around." Piper hurriedly said and walked towards Alex.

"Hi Alex. Hello Diane." Piper gave Alex a wide smile and hugged Diane who greeted and hugged her back.

"Hi babe. Is that Larry over there? What is he doing here?" Alex smiled back at her but showed an expression of surprise.

"Oh, nothing he's here to meet with a friend to visit the museum. Same as us. Just a weird coincidence." Piper stepped closer to Alex and leaned in to kiss her girlfriend. Even though the kiss was short it showed a lot of emotion. It also proved that Larry was watching them as now he stood there completely dumbfounded.

"You didn't tell him you were meeting your girlfriend, did you?" Alex chuckled as she saw his expression.

"Uhm. No. At first I didn't want to you know rub it in his face. But then he was all like let's get back together, I can change and we can make it work. I told him I won't ever go back to him, I'm just not sure if he will stop trying. I'm sure this did convince him that what he hopes for is not gonna happen." Piper told her girlfriend and took her hand. "Let's go inside."

Alex grinned at her. "You are cunning."

"Was this your ex-boyfriend?" Diane asked as they entered the building.

"Uhm, yes. I broke up with him shortly before I met Alex. I think he's still not quite over the fact that I don't want to be with him anymore." Piper explained.

"So you like both?" Diane was curious.

"Women and men? Yes. I like to say that I like people. I don't like to put a label on it, I'm this or that." Piper told her.

"Interesting perspective. But you love who you love. That's not a head but a heart decision." Diane smiled at her.

"Where do you want to go first?" Alex interrupted the two.

"I don't know. We could start either way around. What about you?" Piper said and looked at Alex and Diane.

"Maybe we could start with the ocean life hall? I've always been a fan of the sea." Diane said.

"Sure." Alex and Piper said in unison. They both laughed.

They went through the first hall and looked at the exhibits everyone at their own pace, so soon the three of them were in different directions of the hall but always finding a way back to each other to look at something together or tell the others what they liked.

They had already made their way through different exhibitions some permanent and some special and for a certain period of time when they found themselves in different rooms. Piper looked around and saw neither Alex nor Diane somewhere in the room. She was about to go look for them when suddenly Larry was standing next to her. Had he been following her? Was this another coincidence that they ran into each other again? What was happening?

"Gosh, Larry. You scared me." Piper exclaimed.

"Sorry, that was not my intention." he said with a weird look on his face.

"Larry, I need you to understand, that this is not gonna happen. I know you don't want that to be true, but it just won't happen." Piper said, trying to make things as clear as possible.

"I got that. When you kissed that woman at the latest. Is she your girlfriend? You are into girls or is this just some stupid show to stop me from trying to fix what we had?" Larry looked at her confused.

"Alex is my girlfriend. Yes, I like women too. I've known that ever since I was sixteen. And no, this is not just some show. We are together." Piper explained.

"I can't believe you. You're throwing everything we had away for this woman? Think about what we had. It was so good. I can give you so much more than she can. We could have a house and children, Piper. She can't give you that. Think of the life we could have. Leave her and come back to me." Larry explained nearly looking desperate.

"Listen Larry. I am just going to say this one time, so I need you to fully listen and understand what I'm saying. Alex is so much more than you ever were. She is passionate, one of the kindest people I know, she is so hot and well-read and makes me happier than I ever thought is possible. Even if I was just half as happy as I am with her I would still choose her over you in a second. She is the best thing that ever happened to me. She can give me so much more than you ever did. She loves me just the way I am and makes me feel special. And the sex. Ugh, don't even get me started on this one." Piper said and heard a deep chuckle from behind. When she turned around she saw her girlfriend standing behind her and not far off Diane who had a surprised but proud expression on her face.

"Uh, A-lex. H-how long have you b-been standing there?" Piper was nearly speechless.

"About when you told him we were together." Alex smiled at her. She felt so happy and so much love for her girlfriend right now.

"Okay." Piper didn't know what to say.

"You're the one who stole Piper from me. How could you?" Larry was mad. His face had turned red.

"I stole your girlfriend? That's ridiculous. The day we met she told me she had already ended the relationship. I stole nothing. Even if I would have. Not sorry!" Alex told him. She moved closer to him and as she was taller than Larry and with her 'Don't-fuck-with-me' look on her face she seemed to be pretty intimidating as Larry's confidence shrunk.

"I don't care. We were supposed to get married. And then she broke up with me. Couple days later I see you in that park?! This is ridiculous." was his last desperate try to hold himself against Alex. If him saying that they were supposed to get married unsettled Alex she didn't give a sign of it but before she could answer something Piper went in between them.

"Shut up, Larry. First of all: I met Alex after we broke up. So there was no relationship to be destroyed or someone to be stolen from anyone. Second: We weren't supposed to anything. You proposed, I said no and ended it. We were never engaged. Third: please stop you're desperate tries to get me back. Accept that I am with Alex and move on. I won't have this discussion with you again."

"As if I want you back now, fucking dyke." Larry spat.

That was enough for Alex and she took a step closer and hit Larry straight in the face. "Alex!" Piper shouted in surprise. Larry stumbled backwards in surprise. As soon as he got down from his shock he yelled at Alex that she would regret this, that his father was a lawyer, and left the room.

"I'm sorry, but he was fucking rude to you. Actually I'm not sorry. He behaved like a total dick!" Alex said holding her hand.

"Still you can't go around punching people." Piper exclaimed. "Even though I have to admit it was kinda hot." she whispered in Alex's ear. Alex closed her eyes. Hearing that already turned her on immensely.

"Wanna leave?" she said, slight arousal already noticeable in her voice.

"Yeah, and leave your mother standing here in the museum." Piper chuckled. Just in this moment Diane came over looking not amused.

"Alex. A word. Excuse us please Piper." Diane said and pulled her daughter to the side. "Ugh, sure." was all Piper could manage to reply.

"Seriously, mom?!" Alex was annoyed, feeling embarrassed already.

They stood a few feet away from Piper and even though Diane spoke quietly she could hear her say "Alex, while I'm proud of you for standing up for your girlfriend, this is not how I taught you to handle things. Please don't make your mother watch you punch someone." That was all that she said and then walked back towards Piper. Piper watched the exchange quite interested and found it rather cute than embarrassing when Diane spoke with Alex.

"I'm sorry all this happened." Piper tried to explain. "I had no idea he would be like that and thought he'd finally understand that we are over for good. How is your hand?" she asked Alex.

"Better already. And don't apologize. He was the one behaving like an idiot." Alex said.

The three women soon left the museum and looked for a restaurant to have dinner at when it turned evening. They had dinner at a nice little greek restaurant and Piper and Alex said goodbye to Diane at the subway station as she was going another direction than the couple.

As Piper and Diane hugged goodbye, Diane held her tight a bit longer and told her: "I heard what you said today. About what Alex is to you. And I am so happy for the both of you. I know she is just as happy as you described there. Thank you Piper. For making my daughter the happiest woman I have seen."

"Don't thank me. I'm the one who is more than happy that she chose me." Piper replied her voice trembling as she could feel tears in her eyes. She felt so special and moved.

_Hey. I had so much fun writing this chapter, Alex and Larry meeting again and Alex defending Piper. Let me know what you thought of the chapter._


	27. Chapter 27 Flowers and stormy seas

Chapter 27: Flowers and stormy seas

Couple days later Alex was hugely surprised. Piper and Alex had seen each other one afternoon since the day in the museum, as from friday to sunday they spend the whole weekend together, and managed to make some free time on tuesday afternoon. Now it was thursday but neither of the two women had had a chance to make free time as they were both really busy on said day. Piper was sad they couldn't see each other on this thursday that was so important to her. Alex wondered why the blonde had insisted to try to see each other on this day but neither of them could have worked it out. As her bookstore/café was meant to open in a month Alex was swamped with work and Piper was very busy at PoPi's and needed to work her shift at Luigi's. She had tried to switch shifts with another waiter but a few of her coworkers were sick and there was no way for Piper to not work this evening.

"A delivery for Alex Vause!" a young man said when he entered Alex's store. She wondered which of the things she had ordered had finally arrived when she saw the young man standing in the entry with a smaller long paper package.

"Yeah, that's me." Alex said as she approached him.

"Oh, okay. I am supposed to take this off before I hand it over." they young man, probably around 20, said. When he took the paper away Alex looked at a single red rose. Now she was confused. The young man saw the confusion and said: "There is a note to it. I think this will explain who it comes from."

Alex was speechless. Was this from Piper? Why would she send her a single rose?

"If you shortly could sign this?" the young man asked.

"Sure. Wait, today is the eleventh?" Alex signed but was surprised when she read the date.

"Ugh, yeah. So busy you didn't realize what day it was?" he chuckled.

"Yeah, probably." Alex replied absent-minded. The young man handed over the rose and left.

Now Alex took the note and read it: 'Alex. Today a month ago we first met. I can't believe it has only been a month. I feel like I've known you for years already. Even after this short time I feel closer to you than to anyone before. I can't put in words how happy you make me. I love you so much. Your Piper.'

Alex felt tears rise in her eyes. How did she earn someone like Piper? This is why Piper had insisted they should meet today. Alex had completely forgotten which day it was. She felt bad for not remembering. She took a picture of the rose and send it to Piper.

[Alex: Thank you so much. I love you.]

[Piper: You're welcome. I love you, too.]

[Alex: Is it okay if I pick you up after your shift tonight?]

[Piper: It's going to be really late. You don't have to.]

[Alex: I don't care how late it will be. I need to show you how thankful I am.]

[Piper: For the rose?]

[Alex: The rose, you…]

[Piper: You're starting to become a softie, Al.]

[Alex: Only for you. When does your shift end?]

[Piper: Elevenish?!]

[Alex: See you then.]

Alex put her phone into her pocket and smiled to herself. She had to get back to work otherwise she wouldn't be able to pick up Piper later. While sorting through some stuff that has arrived the last days she thought how much had changed since the workshop. And not just businesswise…

XXXXX

Three weeks later it was only a week until Alex's bookstore/café was to open. She had decided how she would name it, but hadn't told anyone so it was a surprise for everyone. Piper regularly complained that Alex didn't even tell her, but she wouldn't change her mind. Everyone would learn about the name when it was opened. Until then Alex was really busy ordering the coffee machines, get books and the whole furniture.

At the moment she was sorting some of the books she already categorized to be put on shelves by topic. When she heard the door open she was about to say that the store wasn't opened yet. She figured she had forgotten to lock the front door. Just then she saw her blonde girlfriend making her way through some boxes to her.

"Hi you." she grinned at her.

"Hi yourself. What brings me the honour of your visit?" Alex smiled after she gave Piper a peck on the lips as a hello.

"Nothing. I had some free time and wanted to see you. We've both been so busy that we didn't see each other. I just missed you." her girlfriend said.

"That's so sweet of you, Pipes. I missed you too. And it was bothering me that we didn't see each other a lot lately. But with the café opening soon…" Alex told her.

"I know. Do you want a hand with the books?" Piper offered seeing that Alex still had quite a few boxes full of books.

"Sure. That'd be a great help." Alex said thankful. "I'm about to sort them into categories. This is the pile of non-fictional literature, if possible you can divide that into smaller topics like nature and social sciences and other topics, over there is the fiction. That could be divided by thriller, science fiction and all the other categories. I started this box, if you just grab the next one, that'd be great."

"Okay." Piper took the box and placed it on the other side of the shelf. They talked for a bit about how their week went so far but the conversation died down pretty quickly as both women were concentrating on their work sorting the books. Soon there were only the noises of books being put down on shelves and silent movement from the two women. When it got even more quiet Alex looked up to see Piper sitting at the box with one of the books reading it. She smiled to herself. So easily distracted.

She heard the door open again and saw Nicky coming in.

"Came to lend a hand?" she asked her jokingly.

"Sure." Nicky chuckled.

"So. Grab some books." Alex laughed.

"Ugh, I'd rather not. I don't want to end up getting smarter. Think I'm already smart enough." Nicky joked.

"Why are you here then?" Alex wanted to know.

"Conversation with my best friend?" Nicky was obviously oblivious of Piper's presence otherwise she would have said at least hi to her.

"Just like that?" Alex looked over to Piper who seemed to be focused on her book and obviously hadn't noticed Nicky coming in.

"Yes, no. I came to ask if you would come to the NA meeting with me. It's been rough lately and neither of us has been lately." Nicky said.

"Sure. Can we talk about this later?" Alex was panicking. Piper didn't know anything about her past with drugs yet. And this was not the way she wanted her to find out. Luckily she still seemed concentrated on her book.

"Whatever. Thank you. You seem way too happy to need a meeting for yourself, but if you'd come with me that'll really help." Nicky said not getting the hint that Alex didn't want that topic right now.

"Yeah. No problem." she just replied.

"The next NA meeting is on monday by the way. I'll pick you up?" Nicky offered. "I need my best friend. And the people always enjoy stories from us - junky and drug dealer - unbeatable combo."

"Sure." Alex replied shortly when suddenly from the side Piper asked "Why are you going to a NA meeting?" she looked at her surprised and taken aback.

"Shit." Alex cursed under her breath.

"Because I had immense problems with some not so good substances back in the day and I'd like for it to stay in the past. Your girlfriend here helps me make sure it stays there - in the past." Nicky quickly tried to explain while Alex stood there even paler as she usually was. This was the time she had to tell Piper everything. She couldn't keep it from her or it would blow up in her face later.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Nicky. But you said Alex wasn't there for herself. What does that mean? Were you an addict? Did you do drugs? Why drug dealer? Are you dealing? Are you doing them? Why didn't you tell me?" Piper asked confused with a raised voice. She couldn't believe this. She thought she knew Alex. With all her confusion all she wanted was to leave.

"Piper. Let me explain. Will you promise me to stay and listen? I know this is surprising but I promise you I'll tell you everything and explain everything." Alex looked at her beggingly.

"I don't know Alex. I thought I knew you. And all this time you kept all that from me." Piper said upset.

"I'm sorry Alex, I had no idea she was here and you hadn't told her anything." Nicky said quietly and turned to leave. The two women obviously needed to talk.

Piper's mind went crazy. She had so many question but wasn't sure if she wanted answers to all of them.

"I'm sorry Piper. I wanted to tell you but I was afraid you'd leave me if I told you everything. But I will. And I hope that you'll stay and listen and hopefully not leave me after." Alex looked at Piper begging her to stay.

"Okay. I will stay and I will listen. That's all I can promise right now." Piper said, visibly shocked by the turn of events. Alex started talking with a slightly trembling voice.

"Thank you, Pipes. First I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It's hard talking about those days that are way in the past. So to your questions: No. I'm not doing any drugs anymore. I'm not dealing anymore. I did both. When I was 18 I met this guy in this club when I was looking for my father. As I told you he left before I was born, but I was always curious who he was, you know? And he was this total asshole who made stupid comments and was so fucking rude. And this guy said he was working for a drug cartel. He offered me something, I think heroin, but I declined. As you know my mom and I were always broke, there was never enough money for anything. So when he offered me to deal and earn so much more money than I thought I could earn this quickly, I have to admit I didn't think about it that long. I always said I'd just sell and won't take anything, but with the memory of my father being such an asshole and me generally not knowing what to do with myself and Nicky already being a complete junky she managed to talk me into taking it. I did it twice. Those were not so good memories so I decided I wouldn't do it anymore. I also wanted to stop dealing, but with illegal cartels you can't just quit. They threatened me horrible things if I didn't work for them anymore. And soon it was too much. I did drugs again to numb the feeling of not having a future and being scared. So I got addicted. Both Nicky and I were in bad places back then. After one incident where both of us thought we were going to die we decided to get clean. The cartel boss decided that with everything it was too risky to have me work there still. They fortunately let me go with just a horrible scare and not in a body bag. Nicky and I went through rehab and stayed clean ever since. It's been eight and a half years since we got clean and have been ever since. I haven't felt the need to use ever since. I was a lousy junky. But for Nicky it's different. She still goes to meetings regularly because sometimes the temptations get to high." Alex told her, taking smaller breaks in between to see if Piper could follow her story and wouldn't run away screaming. She saw an expression of horror in her face every now and then but kept talking.

"Wow. " Piper was speechless. "I can't believe all of this." her voice was very quiet.

"Now you know the whole story. I can promise you this is all in the past." Alex said quietly. "How are you after having heard all this?"

"I don't know actually. It's so much to take in. I am gonna go home. I have to think about all this." Piper said quietly with a sad look on her face.

"Are we okay? Please don't leave me Piper." Alex said anxiously.

"I promised you to stay and listen. That's what I did. I will go home and think about it, Alex. I don't know how to handle all this right now. Please give me space and time to figure it out. I'll contact you when I know what I'll do." Piper said and left. After she walked out Alex burst into tears fearing she might have lost her.


	28. Chapter 28 Gone forever?

Chapter 28: Gone forever?!

When Piper got home she fell on her bed and cried. Why did this happen? Drugs? Why of all things had it been drugs? Moreover heroin? Alex didn't know why this point exactly affected her so much, she hadn't told her the story. She couldn't believe that her girlfriend used to do illegal stuff. If it had been that she only took it a few times Piper would have been upset, but eventually okay with it. She would have attributed the drug use to experimental curiosity. But dealing drugs? That was a whole other level. It helped other people destroy their lives. Yes - the users chose to use it. But still it was not acceptable for Piper to support this.

Laying on her bed crying for what felt like ages she suddenly felt so exhausted. She couldn't sleep though, her mind was still too filled with so many questions and she couldn't stop herself from thinking about what Alex had just told her. She tried though however to find out how she felt about all this and what she would do now, knowing that her girlfriend did all those things. Would she be able to forgive Alex that she hadn't told her sooner? Did she not tell her sooner because she was afraid to lose her or scare her away? Would Piper leave the love of her life because she made mistakes in her past? Piper didn't know the answers to all these questions. She knew she loved Alex. But could she forgive her specially with all the things from the past that came rushing back into her memory? She didn't know. She just hoped she could, cause she didn't want to lose Alex. She had a feeling that losing her might hurt even more than hearing the fact that she used to deal drugs.

-Alex's POV-

She still sat on one of the boxes in her café crying. She had no idea how much time had passed since Piper left. Slowly her cries died down. She felt exhausted and like there were no tears left to cry. She still sat there now staring at the wall her head completely empty. She didn't notice anything around her and jumped up when she felt a hand at her shoulder.

"What the …" she yelled.

"Sorry, honey I didn't mean to scare you. I just came by to see if you need help." Diane said, just then noticing the shocked look on her daughters face and the puffy red eyes that implied that she was crying.

"What is today? The day of surprise Alex at work?" Alex was mad but realized none of it was her mother's fault and quickly apologized when she saw her shocked face. "I'm sorry, mom. It's just… First Piper came by and offered for help. And that was great." she could feel the tears coming back "But then Nicky came and Piper left because she heard things and now she's gone. I've lost her, mom. Piper left." Alex fell back on the box and the tears came back. Diane stood there for a second, she was perplexed to see her daughter like this. Even in some of the worst times she had never seen Alex cry. She was one of the strongest people she knew. But seeing her like this was heartbreaking for the mother.

"Shh. Calm down. Slowly tell me what happened." Diane said, now cowering next to her daughter hugging her from the side.

"P-p-iper was helping me sort books." Alex began, her words interrupted by sobs. "She sat on the other side of the shelf when Nicky came in and asked if I'd go to a NA meeting with her." Alex buried her face in her hands while her whole body shook from the sobs.

"Shhh. It's okay. Tell me all of it. Piper heard her ask you?" Diane tried to calm her.

"Yes. She heard everything. Nicky hadn't noticed her sitting there. And when Piper asked why she would ask me to come to a meeting I told her everything. I couldn't keep it a secret. I hadn't told her yet because I was afraid that she would run away and leave me. I was right. She is gone. I've lost the love of my life." Alex cried out.

"I'm sorry honey. I'm sure she just needs time to figure out how she feels about all this. I mean it can come as quite a shock. I'm sure she'll be back. I saw the way you two are with each other. I saw how she looked at you. I know she won't leave. And if she does, she has no idea what she misses out on." Diane told her quietly still hugging her shaking daughter.

"Thanks, mom." Alex said, slowly calming down a little.

"You can't keep sitting here on these boxes. Go home, rest a bit and don't drive yourself crazy. Don't overthink it, honey. She'll be back. She just needs time to think about things." Diane looked at her with so much love written all over her face that Alex immediately felt a little better and agreed on going home.

[Nicky: How are you? How did it go? I'm sorry, I didn't know she was there.]

[Alex: Told her everything. She's gone. I don't know if she'll come back.]

[Nicky: Fuck. I'm so sorry. Do you want me to come over? Drown your worries with some drinks at TLT?]

[Alex: No thx. You've done enough today. Gonna go home and drown my "worries" there.]

[Nicky: You're mad. I get that. I swear I didn't know she was there!]

[Alex: yes. I am. The best thing that ever happened to me just disappeared out of my life. Because someone couldn't get the hint I didn't want to talk about all this.]

[Nicky: A short 'Piper is here' would have helped prevent that. I'm sorry you're hurting, but I don't take the full blame here.]

Alex turned her phone off. She didn't really want to go home and be by herself. But she didn't want company of her mother or Nicky either. So she decided to just hit a bar and go for a drink alone. No way she could go to their mostly frequented bar, too many memories of the few times she'd been there with Piper, even though it was close. She just went into the next one she could find.

She'd been sitting at the bar for a while sipping her drinks slowly and completely immersed in her thoughts when a man came over sitting down next to her.

"You look like you had a bad day. Need someone to lend an ear?" he asked.

"No thanks. Bad day - yes. Talk about it - no." Alex shortly replied.

"It helps. Most times. I had a pretty bad day too. We could help each other out." he offered again.

"So you told your girlfriend about bad mistakes from your past and now she left and you don't know if she'll ever come back?" Alex asked annoyed.

"Uhm, no. That sounds pretty horrible actually." he sat there dumbfounded.

"Yeah well. If yours not worse then I'd like to drown my pain in piece please. Thank you." she really had no intention to keep this conversation going.

"Sorry, I just wanted to help."

"Thank you for your offer but I'm really not in the mood." she tried to stay polite.

One or two drinks later, she had kept ordering drinks with not too much alcohol, she wanted to find her way home, she didn't have a friend to help her if she was too drunk, she decided to go home and if she felt like it get really drunk there. She'd have a short way to her bed and no worries of not getting home alright. She checked her watch and was surprised when the clock showed 11pm already. She slowly made her way back home. She hadn't noticed that she had spent so much time at that bar. When she arrived at her apartment building she slowly walked up the stairs and down the hallway to her apartment. As the light in front of her door was broken the floor in front of her door was poorly lit. But even with the dim light she saw someone sitting at the floor leant at the door and from the body position obviously sleeping. Was that …?

"Piper?" Alex said softly.

_I know this was a short chapter, but it will be worth it with the next one._


	29. Chapter 29 Memories that hurt

Chapter 29: Memories that hurt

Alex was relieved to see her girlfriend in front of her door, but also anxious. Did she come here to talk about it, to break up with her or what was going to happen? Right now she was still sitting on the floor asleep. Alex wondered how long she had been sitting there waiting for her.

"Piper?" she said a bit more loudly. "Wake up."

Slowly the blonde stirred awake. Alex could see a short moment of confusion on her face until she obviously remembered where she was.

"Alex? I've been waiting for you. I tried to call you but you didn't answer." she said quietly.

"I'm sorry. I forgot I turned my phone off after Nicky wouldn't stop texting me and I didn't want to read her messages at the moment. How long have you been sitting here?" she asked.

Piper looked at her watch "Seems like about two hours."

"I'm sorry, do you want to come in?" Alex quickly unlocked the door and let them in. She didn't really know what to do right now. But Piper came here to talk?

"Yes. Thanks." Piper walked in and looked around. It wasn't the first time that she was at Alex's place but this time it felt different.

"Can I offer you something to drink? Please make yourself comfortable, if you want." Alex said and took Piper sitting down on her couch as a positive sign that she was here to talk and not break up with her. Then she would have just done that, right? She wouldn't have taken off the coat and shoes and sat down on the couch if all she had to say was that she couldn't be with her anymore, right?! Alex forced herself not to overthink every little movement the blonde made but still was a bit scared of what was about to happen.

"If you have wine, I'd like a glass." Piper said quietly. She sounded exhausted and downcast - just how Alex felt.

"Sure." Alex quickly got a bottle of wine and two glasses and went back to sit down on the couch next to Piper. Nobody said something until Alex forced herself to start the conversation.

"Look, Piper. I am sorry that I didn't tell you all the things I told you this afternoon earlier. I was scared to be honest. I completely understand that you're upset - I would be too if the tables were turned around. But I hope you don't regret that all this happened. I mean that you and I happened. I love you Piper. And I don't want this to end." Alex finished.

"Alex. I'm not here to break up with you." Piper said softly. Alex felt a stone fall from her heart, it was like she could breathe again when before the fear had taken her breath. Piper could see the relieve on her girlfriends face.

"I'm usually not someone who judges people by their past and mistakes they made in the past. I mean that's why the past is the past, right? Everyone makes mistakes. And I believe that everyone can learn from them. And I trust you, when you tell me your past this and not dealing anymore. I love you Alex. It's gonna take me some time to get over all the things you just told me today but believe me I don't regret any of this. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. Do I wish that drug dealing wasn't part of your past? Yes, very much so. But it's the past and I can't change that anymore." Piper made a little break. Alex was speechless. She couldn't believe what she had heard. All the time she had feared Piper would leave her for her involvement with drugs and now this?

"I am here to explain why this is a painful point for me. You know, when you would have told me that you used it couple times in the past, I wouldn't have cared and told you that probably everyone goes through a phase of trying different things. For some people that means being experimental in who they want to be with, for some it's just about trying different hobbies and some like to try different drugs. That is totally fine with me, as long as it's about the own experience. Trying things for yourself usually doesn't hurt anyone else. But when you told me about dealing that is when it got hard for me. Dealing isn't about yourself anymore, it's about other people." Piper's voice got quieter. She was close to tears and Alex felt like there is more to it than the thought of a dealer hurting other people by selling drugs. She just waited for Piper to go on and encouraged her with an agreeing nod to what she said before.

"It is a long story but I need to tell you everything, it's the reason why this is so hard to deal with. When we were younger my parents didn't really care about what we were doing, they still don't as long as we fit into their perfect family picture. So they didn't bother or say anything when my brother Cal started smoking joints when he was only twelve. I don't know if they even noticed. Our older brother Danny had always been the musterchild and exceeded all expectations of our parents. I don't know how he did that, but our parents always told me and Cal how proud they were of him and how perfect he was. It made Cal and I grow together even more. We were like twins even though we're two years apart. I tried to do as good as I can and my parents seemed to be at least satisfied with me but they never said anything like that they're proud of me. At some point I accepted that. For Cal it was harder. He was the third kid, he was always the creative one who liked the chaos and living without rules and just be free. So it was hard for him to fit in with our parents and he often got into trouble because of his lack of conformation. At first it was just smoking joints but when he was 16 he did harder things. Mostly just heroin. He nearly died on several occasions and I tried to help him but I didn't know what to do. My parents pressuring him to not be a shame for the family didn't help either and I was so scared to lose the person I loved the most. He was and still is the one of the most important people in my life. And I just couldn't see him like that, dying and hurting so much. So I didn't know what to do when you said you were one of the people that sold that shit that nearly killed my brother." somewhere in telling the story Piper had started to cry and Alex soon had joined her when she heard about Piper's brother.

"I am so sorry Piper." Alex said. Piper moved closer to Alex and hugged her. For a while the two women hugged and cried in each others arms. "I'm sorry Piper, that this happened to your brother and I am sorry that I was on the other side distributing the drugs. I knew it could cause many bad things but always told myself that everyone decided for themselves to take or not to take it. When I realized that it wasn't really true I tried to end it, but as I told you quitting a job like this isn't that easy. I'm not really proud of this part of my past."

"It's in the past Alex. We can't change the past. My brother has been clean for some years now and I think he's past that so we moved on from that, but it's still one of the most painful memories I have."

"I understand that. So you're not leaving me? I was scared of that ever since you left the café."

"No Alex. I'm not leaving you. I love you." she said and kissed Alex to convince her she was sincere.

"I love you too Pipes. I promise you I won't keep anything like that a secret anymore."

"No more secrets." Piper agreed. They kissed again and it was filled with so much emotion. Alex thought it was true what they said 'You never really know what you got until you (nearly) lose it.'. Soon their kisses got more passionate when they suddenly heard a loud knock on the door.

"Fuck, who is that?" Alex mumbled as Piper's still were on hers.

She quickly opened the door to get rid of the intruder as soon as possible.

"Hey Vause. Just checking if you're okay." Nicky said.

"Yes, I am very okay. Can we talk tomorrow?" Alex said shortly.

"Hey. I'm just trying to be a good friend. You still mad at me?" Nicky asked confusedly to why Alex wouldn't let her in.

"Yes - no. We'll talk about that tomorrow. For you, who obviously get no hints ever, you really gotta work on that, I'll tell you more clearly now. Piper is here. We talked. She's not breaking up with me. And I got other things on my mind right now than to discuss everything with you right now. So I'll see you tomorrow." Alex hurriedly said and was about to close the door.

"Okay. I get it." Nicky said and added while walking away "Get your girl Vause! I heard there's nothing like make up sex!"

"Fuck you." Alex mumbled to herself, but obviously loud enough for Nicky to hear while she couldn't hide a little grin.

"Nah, I don't think Piper would agree on that!" Nicky shot back and left.

"Just Nicky." she told Piper. "She wanted to check if I'm alright. Gone home now."

Alex pulled Piper towards her bedrooms and closed all the doors. The night was filled with so much emotion after the emotion-filled day that both women felt like this was the most intimate sex they ever had.

XXXXX

When they woke the next morning both women were happy to just lie next to each other cuddled together with their naked bodies.

"Good morning, love." Alex said her voice raspy from sleep.

"A good morning it is indeed, my love." Piper repeated her words and smiled at Alex before giving her a kiss on her cheek.

"I'm so happy that all this stuff from my past didn't separate us." Alex said.

"Yeah, me too." Piper replied.

"Nevertheless, if you still have questions you want to ask, you can ask me anything, okay?" Alex offered.

"Sure. Later though. Not right now. I'm enjoying this. Just being here cuddled up in your arms. It feels amazing. I don't ever want to get up."

"We could have breakfast in bed?!" Alex suggested.

"Someone's gotta get up and make it. But it does sound amazing."

"I'm gonna do that. You stay comfy and cozy here and I'll make breakfast." Alex said and moved to get up. She felt Pipers hands on her upper arms holding her back.

"But it's comfy and cozy because of you. If you're gone I don't have a reason to stay in bed anymore." Piper said. Alex closed her eyes. Did the blonde have any idea what she did just mentioning herself and a bed and being so damn cute when acting so innocent?

"You're making it very hard for me to get up. But we both need some food after last night's physical activities." Alex explained and looked at Piper with so much desire.

"Okay, okay. Only because I'm almost starving. I need something to eat. Do you want help?"

"I'll be fine. You keep the bed warm and I'll be back with breakfast in a bit." Alex smiled at her.

"Thank you. Maybe I'll have you for dessert then." Piper said almost casually. Alex had to concentrate really hard on going to the bathroom before making breakfast and not jump right back into bed with her girlfriend.

As Alex had left the room Piper covered herself completely under the blanket. Part of the bed smelled so much like Alex that she just felt blissfully happy wrapped in the warmth and the smell of her girlfriend. It would be better if she was in bed with her but this was the closest thing to the best. Just then she heard the door open and thought that Alex was incredibly fast in making breakfast when she heard a voice that she took a bit to recognize say: "Stop moping and get out of bed! Staying in bed won't make anything better."

"I'm sorry?!" Piper peeked out of the blanket to see Diane standing in front of the bed.

"Piper? Oh, I… uhm, I'm sorry. I didn't see Alex anywhere in the apartment so I figured she'd still be in bed. I just wanted to check on her." Diane was a little perplexed.

"Uhm, she should be in the kitchen. She said she's gonna make breakfast." Piper quietly explained blushing a little.

"Okay. Sorry. I'll go find her." Diane said smiling now.

"Okay. I'll be there too in a minute." Piper said, accepting that breakfast in bed was probably canceled. While leaving the room she heard Diane mumble "I told her so."

'Told her what?' Piper wondered and got dressed hoping to find out soon.


	30. Chapter 30 Opening the café

Chapter 30: Opening the café

It was the morning of the opening of Alex's café/bookstore. Everyone was still waiting eagerly how the name would be. The last week had been really stressful for everyone involved, but it had turned out great. The store was exactly how Alex had imagined it. Nicky, Alex and Piper were decorating the store before the party would start around 3pm. It was rather a small celebration with a few guests. Of course Diane would come, also some friends said they would show up. How many it would be in the end no one knew but it wouldn't be that many.

"Very excited already?" Piper asked Alex as they finished the last things that needed to be done before they could open up and let the guests in.

"You bet." Alex said. She had been on edge the whole day. She wanted everything to be perfect and run smoothly. The success of her idea would show over the next weeks and months but for now they wanted the best opening party they could have for the few guests that were there to attend.

"Hey lovebirds! And Nicky." Diane arrived and made her way over to Nicky, Alex and Piper greeting the three women with a wide smile.

"Hey mom." "Hi Diane." they were happy to see her, most of the decoration was finished by now and slowly they were ready for opening and celebrating.

"So you already hung the sign and covered it so no one finds out what the name is gonna be? I hoped to get a glance." Diane said to her daughter.

"Yeah. It will be revealed later. When everyone is here." Alex told her.

"Did she not even tell you?" Diane asked Piper.

"No. I have no idea what the name's gonna be. I tried hard, but she won't tell me anything. Not even the first letter." Piper looked at Alex in mock annoyance.

"You'll see soon enough." Alex told both of them.

"Anyway. I am so proud of you, Alex." Diane said and hugged her daughter beaming with pride.

Slowly the other guests arrived. Alex had invited some of her mothers friends who knew her well during growing up, couple of her friends, the staff of Luigi's, Polly as Piper's best friend and business partner and even the new to the group PoPi employee Lorna Morello.

Nicky offered herself to be the barista for the opening celebration and was diligently making coffee for everyone. When she saw Lorna enter the store she accidentally dropped the luckily still unopened carton of milk. She quickly found Alex standing not so far away and beckoned her over after getting her attention.

"Who is this woman? How do you know her?" Nicky wanted to know. Alex smiled at Nicky's curiosity.

"I think that is Lorna. Remember I told you Piper and Polly were hiring someone for help? That's her. I invited her cause I invited the rest of PoPi's staff too." Alex explained with a smirk on her lips.

"Does she maybe want a coffee?" Nicky asked.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask her?" Alex chuckled.

"Cause I'm here making all the coffee?! Come on! Be a good host and send her over to get a coffee." Nicky demanded.

"Okay, okay. You're a pain in the ass sometimes do you know that?" Alex complained.

"Get her over. Thank you." Nicky said.

It was two hours later and the party was in full swing. Everyone seemed to have enjoyed their afternoon so far. Even more so Nicky, who could still be found at the coffee machines and still in deep conversation or better flirtation with Lorna. Alex thought slowly it was time for the revelation of the evening. She asked Piper to help her quiet everything down and listen to her for a second.

"Hi, everyone! Thank you for coming today and supporting the opening of my store/café. I know you're all keen on learning the name I picked out but you'll have to be patient for a little while longer until I finished thanking everyone." The crowd laughed. "Starting with the most important people in my life I would like to say thank you to my mom. For always being the rock when I went through troubled times in my life, for making sure I always knew I could come to you with everything and you'd help me get back on track." Alex went over and gave Diane a big hug "I love you, mom!" "I love you too, honey." Diane replied.

"Piper." Alex turned around to face her girlfriend. She heard Nicky mumble "Great, I slipped into spot 3" which earned her an annoyed look from Alex who quickly returned her gaze back at Piper. "Thank you for everything. For always being there when I need you, for being the best thing that happened to me and making me the happiest I've ever been. I love you." she said already getting closer to Piper while speaking. "Also thank you for being so patient with me the last weeks, I know it has been stressful and I was very busy, but you always made sure I could relax whenever we saw each other." When she stood right in front of her she leaned closer and gave Piper a sweet kiss. Piper quickly told her "I love you too." before Alex turned around to face Nicky.

"Nicky. Thank you for being a pain in the ass." Alex chuckled. "You're welcome." "But one that I can count on at all times. I can call at any time and come to you with any problem and you make sure to have an open ear. You're the best friend I could wish for. Also thank you for that." Alex chuckled and went over to hug Nicky who suddenly seemed to have lost her speech.

"And for the rest of you, sorry I can't address all of you, but thank you for being good friends, for helping out, carrying books or furniture or other things to help me build this store. I couldn't have done it without you." everyone was cheering.

"So. To reveal the big secret I would like to ask everyone to step outside. I'll take off the cover from the sign above the store and answer your questions, if you have any." Alex announced.

Everyone was keen on finding out what the name was so they didn't lose any time getting out of the café.

"Okay. Let's count down." Nicky yelled.

3 … 2 … 1 ... Alex pulled at the blanket she had used to cover the sign. Alex looked at the crowd trying to read the name. She heard different version of people trying to pronounce it and looked in quite a few faces with questions on them.

"I can see the questions. And here is the explanation. The name is PiDiaNi. It's a connection of the names of the three most important people in my life. P-i for Piper, D-i-a for my mother Diane and N-i for my best friend Nicky. I know it might sound strange at the moment but I hope it'll catch on."

"Wow." "Good idea, even if it's a strange word." "Cool." were some of the comments Alex could hear in the crowd still looking at the sign.

She saw Piper coming closer. Her face was hard to read. Suddenly Alex was anxious. Did she not like it? Was it too much? Surely it was too much. They weren't together for two months yet and she named her bookstore after her. At least partially.

"It was a stupi.." Alex started but quickly got silenced by Piper's lips being on hers. She was a little surprised, obviously her girlfriend didn't hate the name. When Piper pulled away she smiled at her. "Were you going to say it was a stupid idea?" she chuckled and looked at Alex curiously.

"So you think it wasn't?" Alex answered her indirectly.

"No. I think it's very sweet and I feel honoured to be part of your café's name." Piper replied.

"Whew. I thought maybe you think it's a bit soon and we're not even together that long." Alex sounded relieved.

"This thing always comes up again and again. Too soon. Is it too soon if it feels this good? Is it too soon if this is the best I've felt since like forever?"

"Guess we're just always moving very fast, huh?" Alex chuckled. They looked each other in the eyes with so much love and adoration visible.

Everyone enjoyed the rest of the party but around 10pm the café emptied. It was just Alex and Piper who stayed to tidy up. Alex wondered where Nicky had gone, she had promised to help clean up so they were done faster, but now she seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth.

"The last I saw Nicky was outside when you revealed the sign. She was in deep conversation with Lorna." Piper told Alex when she revealed her wondering about Nicky's whereabouts.

"Oh and now she ditched us for Lorna?" Alex chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds like her."

"Oh you mean, they hooked up?" Piper wanted to know.

"Nicky has been all over her the whole evening ever since Lorna came into the café." Alex explained. "Poor Lorna though. But she seemed to have enjoyed the attention." Alex smirked.

"Yeah I noticed that they were close by the whole time, but I didn't know what was happening. I am not sure if this is a good thing though." Piper trailed off.

"Why? This is the first time I see Nicky interested in someone like that. She usually is more the 'let's find a one night stand at the next bar' kind of girl." Alex was confused.

"Well Lorna has been with us for only a week now. But this isn't the problem. She told us all last week about this Christopher who seems to be her fiancé. I told her to ask him to come, but obviously he could not or didn't want to? I don't know." Piper told her. She collected the last cups standing around and put them into the cleaner.

"Oh. Wow. When she is engaged, why did she flirt with Nicky though? I heard those two over there for a second until I felt like barfing but she was clearly not uninterested!" Alex said.

"I don't know Alex. It's just what she told us. That's why I am a little surprised when you mentioned she was flirting with Nicky."

XXXXX

It was the saturday a week after the opening of PiDiaNi and Alex and Piper had agreed to meet at the park close to Pipers place to go for a little walk and just talk about their week and how things had been. Alex's café attracted quite a few customers and she had been busy the first week. Many of her new customers had shown big interest in the books and quite a few also bought some or traded them. Alex was happy that her idea found so many interested people who liked her idea.

Alex was well aware that it was the eleventh and Piper and her had been together for two months to that day. This time she was prepared. She had found Piper's gesture the last month so sweet that she decided to get her flowers too this time. But not roses, cause she didn't want Piper to feel like she copied her. She got her two white lilies because those were Piper's favourites. She stood at the little fountain where they had agreed to meet and waited there facing the direction Piper would come from if she came from her apartment, the flowers behind her back so that she wouldn't see them immediately.

"Alex!" Piper yelled from far with a wide smile over her face. She came from where Alex had expected her and was walking briskly towards her. Alex returned her smile. She had no chance not to. Always when she saw the blonde or thought about her her face turned into a big smile, if she wanted or not. Sometimes people watching her were a little confused to why she suddenly smiled so brightly but she didn't care. She loved that Piper was in her life and she felt happy every time she thought about her.

"Hey Pipes." Alex greeted her when she got close and pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her deeply. "I brought you something." she said with a promising look on her face.

"White lilies! Oh those are my favourite!" Piper was surprised.

"I know." Alex smiled, happy that she could surprise her girlfriend.

"Oh thank you. I got you something too, by the way." Piper replied and gave her two roses. The same as the last time but this time it were two. "Happy two month anniversary!" Piper smiled.

"To you too. And thank you for the roses." Alex said happily.

They shared a short moment of just standing there in each others arms relishing the moment of closeness and happiness.

"So. How was the first week with PiDiaNi?" Piper was curious.

"Very good. I think many people liked the idea of having a coffee and reading and not have to bring either. I even had this one customer who came every day around the same time, ordered a coffee and sat down to read one of the Jane Austen books. I think I got my first regular." Alex chuckled.

"That sounds great. I was pretty sure though you're idea would be a success. There are so many people out there who love to read. And who says no to a good coffee?" Piper was proud and happy that things went so well for Alex.

"How was your week? How is Lorna doing? Everything working out with her like you imagined?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. Lorna is great. She does a great job taking in all the orders and always puts in an extra touch when sending out the products. She's really enthusiastic, which is great. She's just been a little absent-minded every now and then. Usually when she gets a text she has this weird smile and is all giddy. I think it is Nicky. She won't say anything but it's kinda obvious. And she completely stopped talking about this Christopher. I don't know what's happening there." Piper laughed and Alex joined her. "I'm curious what will be with those two." Piper said. They walked through the park for a while talking and soon continued their conversation on Piper's couch. Not long after their verbal conversation changed into a nonverbal one and clothes were tossed as they made their way from the living room towards Piper's bedroom.


	31. Chapter 31 Your place or mine?

Chapter 31: Your place or mine?

For Piper's birthday she had taken Alex, Polly, Diane, Nicky and Lorna out to Luigi's and Piper's second family had celebrated with her. Later even Cal arrived to everyone's surprise. Piper had thought he was away for some convention that weekend and had gone there already as it was friday evening but he had made it work to come to his sister's birthday celebration. He even brought his new girlfriend Neri who seemed to be a perfect fit for her little brother.

Four days later it was their three month anniversary. Alex and Piper went out that night and maintained their new 'tradition' of giving each other flowers. They had just gotten back to Alex's apartment from the restaurant when Alex noticed Piper getting a little nervous and antsy.

"Everything alright, Pipes?" Alex asked a little worried.

"Uh, ehm, yeah." she tried to hide it but couldn't.

"What is it, Piper? And please don't say nothing because I can see that something is going on." Alex demanded.

"I, uhm, wanted to, uhm ask you …" she got really nervous now.

"What do you want to ask me, babe? You don't have to be so nervous." Alex tried to calm her.

"If you, maybe, if you don't think it's a bad idea, would like to, uhm, move in together?" Piper finally finished her question.

Alex was surprised to say the least. She wasn't expecting this but slowly a smile crept onto her face. She had been thinking about this too if she was honest but wasn't sure if Piper would be ready yet.

"Move in together? I'd love that. I actually thought about asking that question too." Alex chuckled. She could see how Piper clearly relaxed, normal colour returning to her anxious pale face. She smiled brightly and literally jumped into her arms. They kissed and glowed in their happiness for a while.

They sat down on the couch in Alex's living room and turned on the tv but weren't really paying attention.

"Where would you want to live? I mean I like my place but yours is nice too. For work it doesn't make much difference though. Or should we find something new?" Alex contemplated.

"I'd be okay with either. Moving into one of our apartments would be easier than looking for something new but I'm not sure if either place is big enough for two." Piper argued.

"Yours is a bit bigger than mine. I'm positive it could fit the two of us. If you're okay with it. I mean I like it here but I'd think your place would be a better fit for two." Alex said.

"Yeah, true. And you'd move out of this place? It's lovely." Piper said looking around even though she knew the place pretty well already.

"Yes. To live with you. I can't wait to spend even more time with you and come home and know I'll see you soon." Alex told her.

"Ahh, that's so sweet. I'd love to come home to you. Or the other way round…" Piper chuckled.

It knocked. They looked at each other surprised and curious. It knocked again. Alex went to check the dorr. Shortly after Alex disappeared Nicky came in talking like a waterfall already.

"Oh, hey blondie. Thought you might be here. Anyway. I see you two are all dressed up. Did I miss something?" she stopped.

"Uh, well we just got back from our date." Alex told her. "What are you doing here Nick? Not that I'm complaining, but it's unexpected."

"I told you like two minutes ago. Can't a friend not just spontaneously visit her best friend?"

"You were talking like he Niagara Falls push water over the edge. How could anyone understand what you were trying to say?" Alex teased.

"Ha ha. Very funny. Do you mind if I?" she pointed at the couch.

"Since when do you bother to ask?" Alex laughed.

"You're right. I don't. I think Lorna is rubbing off on me a little."

"So you two are still a thing? I wasn't so sure lately. Looked like lots of ups and downs?!" Alex wondered.

"Yeah. She's crazy. I am crazy. We work together or we don't." Nicky said blankly.

"Okay. Whatever you are happy with."

"Ahh, it's just weird you know? One day she is all over me and fully into 'we're the best couple ever' mode and the other day she is like 'I'm not sure if this is gonna work'." Nicky said a little beat. "It's exhausting. You never know which day it is."

"Have you tried talking to her about it?" Alex asked.

"Of course I have, smartass. Depending on which day I approach her she's like don't worry, we're the best couple ever but I can't help how I'm feeling or she's close to breaking up with me, which would mean we'd be girlfriends and I don't know if we are. I don't know if I would want that. Me and a girlfriend? I mean I like her. Really, I do. She's just so off sometimes that I'm not sure if this crazy is worth it. It's just all so confusing." Nicky explained sinking deeper into the couch.

"Woah. There are a lot of I don't knows here. Maybe you should be clear about what you want first before you can talk about it with Lorna. Do you want her as someone you just make out with or do you want something more serious? I'm no relationship expert, but you can't ask her to define this if you don't know what you want." Alex tried.

"Thank you. I appreciate your advice. I think you're right. But how? How am I supposed to know that?"

"You said you like her. I can see that you do. Everyone can, actually. You've been talking about her so much, you've never done that with any other girl I've seen you with. So the question for you is: Can you see yourself with Lorna doing actual couple things like go out on dates, not pick up anyone else at a bar or other place, being there for her and calling her your girlfriend?"

Nicky went quiet for a while and seemed to think about it.

To help Alex went on with some probably easier questions. Piper sat next to them just listening and enjoying to see Alex this caring with her friend.

"Imagine yourself in the park with Lorna. You're walking through holding hands and passers by look at you. They notice you and Lorna are holding hands. How does this feel?" she asked.

"Not nauseous." Nicky joked.

"You need to take this seriously if you want it to work." Alex said annoyed.

"Okay, okay. No actually, it feels better than expected." Nicky said sincerely.

"Good. What if you imagine that the two of you go out and by accident run into her parents?" Alex asked. Piper chuckled quietly remembering how she had met Diane.

"Oh wow. I mean that's a big thing, right? I'm not sure how Lorna would react. She would probably tell them that I am just a friend." Nicky told her.

"What if she told them you were her girlfriend. I don't care whether that might be realistic at the moment or not. Just imagine it. How would that feel?" Alex was curious for the answer to that question.

"Uh, I don't know. Nervous? Somewhat proud? Wouldn't want to mess that up, I guess." Nicky said. Alex had a big smile on her face.

"I guess we have the first answer to one of your 'I don't knows'! You can imagine all of that and not feel nauseous or like running away. You want Lorna as your girlfriend." Alex concluded.

"What - you turned into a shrink now? But I guess you're right. I never thought I'd say that but I want her as my girlfriend. Wow." Nicky was surprised herself. "But meeting the parents is soooo not gonna happen anytime soon."

"Doesn't have to. But now you're one step further."

"Thank you. I knew you'd know how to help."

"Anytime." Alex just replied.

"I'm sorry, I ruined your couple night, huh?" Nicky chuckled and looked at Alex and Piper.

"You didn't ruin anything. If you did I'd have told you way earlier." Alex chuckled.

"Good to know. The meeting the parents things still freaks me out a little but, time will help with that right?" Nicky asked.

"I guess." Alex answered shortly.

"By the way. I know Piper has met Diane already. Have you met Pipers parents?" Nicky looked at both women.

Piper answered before Alex had the chance to say something. "No. And I am not sure if that's ever gonna happen. I haven't heard from them or seen them ever since I told them I broke up with my ex and have a girlfriend. They came around with the fact that I ended the relationship of which they thought was perfect and started a new one. But they can't accept that I am in a relationship with a woman. If they ever should come around, it might happen but I don't think they will."

"Wow. Chapman. You cut all contact with your family for this one?" she pointed at Alex as if it wasn't clear she was the woman Piper was talking about.

"Well, I still have contact to my brother. I'm tired of trying to be who my parents wish I would be. They don't get to dictate my life or who I should be with. I'll let them back into my life if they can accept the fact that Alex is part of it." Piper explained.

"Still. That is a big thing. Unless you're as close to your parents as me. Then it wouldn't be much of a sacrifice." Nicky chuckled.

The three women kept on talking for a while. Piper and Alex told Nicky about their plans of moving in together and Nicky made fun of Alex for being 'domesticated' but as a matter of fact Nicky was happy for her. She could see how happy the two women were with each other. She saw how happy her best friend was. When sometimes before Piper she had had quite some dark days, it now it seemed those days were completely gone. Her friend literally radiated happiness. And she deserved to be that happy. Maybe Nicky was a little jealous even. Her relationship with Lorna wasn't as easy as Alex and Piper seemed to have it. She knew that she herself wasn't always easy and had her idiosyncrasies, but eventually she wanted to be as happy with Lorna as Alex was with Piper.

XXXXX

Piper was alone at home a few weeks later. The couple had eventually decided to move into Piper's place as it was bigger and so far they were happy with their decision aside from some smaller arguments about random things from their everyday life, like household things that resolved pretty quickly. It took a couple of days to bring all of Alex's belongings to Pipers place. Now they had been living together for three weeks already and their 4 month anniversary was close. Piper sat on the couch and reminisced of the last four months. She felt so blessed and happy to have met Alex. Over the last four months the couple had grown very close, Piper had an amazing relationship with Diane who secretly already thought of her as a second daughter, both women had build their businesses which were both very successful. Piper had been able to quit her job as a waitress even though she felt sorry and sad to leave Luigi's but was also happy she and Polly could both work full time at PoPi. Piper and Alex went to visit Luigi's every now and then checking in on Luigi and the other waiters. The staff really had been like a second family to Piper. Still was, even though she wasn't working there anymore. Her thoughts trailed back to Alex. How she had been everything she had wished for and more. How she was her happiest self and how their relationship had developed. From meeting her at the workshop to having their first fight to Alex including her in the name of her bookstore to moving in together couple weeks ago. She couldn't imagine how she could have been with anyone else. When Alex was with her she felt like being home, like being exactly where she wanted and needed to be. Piper wondered if this is how you feel when you realize you have met the one person you're meant to be with. Like forever. She never ever wanted this to end. She slowly realized that Alex was her other half, 'The One', as Polly had explained her definition months ago. Back then Piper had told her that she didn't believe there was 'The One'. Now she slowly believed that there was.

She was about to call her best friend when she heard a knock on the door. 'Who is this? Who comes visiting at that time? I mean it's not too late but not exactly afternoon either.' Piper wondered. She went to open the door.


	32. Chapter 32 Surprising visits

Chapter 32: Surprising visits

"Mom? Dad?" her face showed pure surprise.

"Hi Piper." her mother greeted her.

"What are you doing here?" she blurted out completely shocked to see her parents standing in front of her. "I mean not that you're not welcome, I'm just really surprised." she quickly added and made space for them to enter her apartment.

They came in and looked around. Her mother seemed confused, probably because she saw a few things she noticed weren't Piper's.

"We are here because we want to end this silence. Even though we might not be particularly happy of your choice of partner you're still our daughter and we don't want to cut you out of our life. Also we are both sorry for our misdemeanour the last time. It just came as a big surprise to us." her father explained resolutely as if he wanted to reason with someone. Piper guessed that it wasn't because of her mother that they were there.

"Wow. That's unexpected but very appreciated. Thank you dad. I am also sorry that this is how you found out about everything. I should have told you sooner about me liking both, men and women. I wanted to but never got the courage to do so. This wasn't exactly how you were supposed to find out about it."

"It's okay, honey. I just hope you understand it's going to take a bit for us to accept that." her father told her.

"Are you still with that woman?" her mother interrupted her when Piper was about to reply to her dad.

"Yes, mom, I am. And please don't call her that. Her name is Alex and she still is my girlfriend, yes." Piper replied being mad about her mother's harsh voice.

"One is allowed to ask. I see she left a few things at your place." her mother said as if she hadn't noticed Piper's annoyance.

"Yes. All her stuff is here actually because we live together. It could even happen that she'll be home soon. So if that should happen could you be nice to her? You don't have to be her friend but at least be decent. She didn't do anything but make me happy." Piper warned her. And as if on cue she heard keys in the door and Alex enter their apartment.

"Hey, Pipes. You home?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. In the living room. We got surprising visitors." she replied and walked towards the door and out of sight of her parents.

"Who is visiting?" Alex said when they met just outside the door. Piper quickly hugged her and gave her a little peck on the lips before she answered.

"Uhm, my parents surprisingly came over and apologized for their misbehaviour the last time we saw each other. I didn't expect that anytime soon, but I guess someone can always be surprised." Piper explained and saw how her girlfriend got a few shades paler than she already was.

"You think it is a good idea for me to walk in there?" Piper could hear the nervousness and uncertainty in Alex's voice. That was so not like her. She hadn't seen her this nervous before. Alex was all confident and never shy usually.

"I think there's no way around. Besides they know it's you who came in and it would be rude not to introduce you to them. I'm sorry this comes so surprising and without any preparation." Piper apologized.

"It's okay. Had to happen at some point right? After your last explanation to Nicky I thought that wouldn't be so soon, but well. Let's get this over with." Alex said visibly collecting her courage to meet Piper's parents.

"Hey, mom, dad. Alex, this is my father Bill and my mother Carol. Mom, dad, this is Alex." "Be nice." she mouthed to her mom.

"Hello Alex." both said shortly in unison.

"Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Chapman." Alex politely replied.

"Ugh, sorry I was so surprised to see you I didn't offer you anything to drink. What do you want? Mom? Dad?" Piper said looking at both of them. The tension in the room was palpable and Piper couldn't handle those situations very well. She tried but it made her nervous to no end.

Everyone sat down on the couch and the chairs close to it and at least her dad was remembering to be polite and started a conversation with Alex who still seemed to be nervous. Piper quickly got everyone what they wanted to drink and sat down next to Alex. She and her dad seemed to get along quite well. Piper had the feeling that her dad tried his best to accept Alex as her new partner and to involve her. Piper was so happy about his efforts and also a bit proud that he seemed to enjoy the conversation with Alex, whose nervousness had decreased a little. While being happy about her dad's efforts she was a bit worried about her mom. She didn't take it very well and just eyed Alex every now and then but didn't say a word and just sat there her eyes wandering through the apartment.

Everything went better than expected when her mother suddenly turned to face Alex and decided to address her directly: "You know. Piper could have had a normal life. A husband and even children one day. She could live a normal, happy life like she was expected to. Until you came along and destroyed everything. I don't know what went wrong with you, but this is not acceptable. I can't watch my daughter ruin her life like this…" Carol was about to go on when Piper interrupted her.

"Mother!" her face turned red, she was furious. "Don't you ever talk to Alex like that again. I swear to god, I will cut all communication, contact and whatsoever if this will ever happen again. I need you to understand that Alex did not ruin anything, she made my life better and happier than ever before. She's the best thing that ever happened to me. I love her more than I've ever loved anyone before her. And what is normal anyway? Being drunk by lunchtime to deal with your problems? Not accepting your own children's happiness? Everyone makes stupid and terrible mistakes and makes wrong and stupid decisions, I remember and regret quite a few of mine. That is human. But being with Alex? It's not a mistake. It's the best decision I've ever made. Nothing that you could possibly say is ever going to change that. So you have the choice: Accept that Alex is part of my life and be nice to her or leave us alone. Your decision to make."

Everyone stood there silenced completely by Piper's outburst. Her mother didn't say anything and just got up and left. Her father stood there a little dumbfounded.

"I'm sorry, Piper. I talked to her before we came here and she promised she would behave. She went too far, I get that. I'll talk to her." her father said in a quiet voice. He tried not to show it but he was a little mad at his wife too. "Please don't shut us out, it would be painful if we lost you."

"I won't do that to you dad. But I can't promise about her. I can't accept this." Piper told him suddenly feeling really exhausted. This was the first time she had talked to her mother like that but she had gone too far for real this time.

"I'll talk to her. It was nice to meet you Alex. I hope we'll see each other again sometime. I can see how happy you make my daughter. Please keep doing that. She deserves to be happy. I don't care who makes her happy. And if that's you then I'm thankful and happy that you are in her life." Bill said and made his way outside to follow his wife.

"Thank you, Mr. Chapman. I will, I promise." Alex quickly told him before he was out the door.

Both women were quiet and speechless for a while. They both needed to take in the whole situation that had transpired in front of them just minutes ago. Piper was the first to say something again.

"I'm sorry Alex. I knew she had her problems accepting this and told her to be nice. I didn't expect that."

"Don't apologize. You are not responsible for what your mother does or says. I've had worse actually." Alex told her and moved closer to hug Piper who still seemed a bit tense and slightly beaten.

"I know I can't do something about how she behaves, but sometimes I wish she was more open and accepting." Piper silently admitted.

"Don't worry. Actually the way you stood up for me and said all those things was … so … hot." between words Alex placed kisses up Piper's neck until she landed on her jaw. A quiet moan escaped Piper's throat. Then Alex looked her straight in the eyes. The look on her face conveyed love, desire and lust. Very fast their mouths crashed into a hungry and very passionate kiss. Soon they were all over each other and undressing each other as if there was no tomorrow.

XXXXX

Couple days later they were out with Nicky and Lorna. As usually they went to the Liquid Temptation.

"Actually. It wasn't me who had that stupid idea. That was this weirdo here." Nicky said pointing at Alex.

"No it wasn't!" Alex objected.

"It was you who had the stupid idea that it would be fun to go skinny dipping! Because once we are at the sea you might as well use your chance, as you put it!" Nicky argued. Lorna and Piper were laughing. They both enjoyed the story of Alex and Nicky taking a short trip to the sea who were now arguing about whose idea it was to go skinny dipping.

"You said it would be fun to do something crazy. I just said something crazy like skinny dipping? You were the one who said okay let's do it." Alex insisted but laughed.

"Guys, why is it important whose idea it was?" Piper tried to calm the conversation a little.

"Cause you don't know what happened!" Nicky gave back.

"So what happened?" both Piper and Lorna wanted to know.

Alex was the one to answer. "As it was a short trip, you know - morning there, evening back - we didn't pack any exchange clothes or anything besides some snacks. When it got later one of us decided it would be a good idea to go skinny dipping. We thought we were alone on the beach but we weren't as our clothes got stolen. So there we were: naked, wet and cold."

"Oh my god. What did you do?" Piper asked breathlessly. She and Lorna had been laughing hard when Alex told them about what happened. They just couldn't contain their laughter.

"We luckily found some blankets in my moms car and drove home wrapped in those blankets." Alex said and laughed with them.

"Oh wow…" Piper said holding her belly from laughter.

"Well, don't you have a story to tell? Tell us something funny from your life!" Nicky demanded.

"Later. My tummy muscles already hurt. I can't... " Piper slowly calmed.

"But we are waiting for a story. Don't tell us you got none!" Nicky pushed.

"I have plenty. But not right now." Piper didn't give in.

They got quieter for a while. Everyone was chuckling every now and then when the story returned to their minds and it made everyone laugh every time they thought of it. Every time that someone would let out a random chuckle she would quickly say "Still the story." and the others weren't so confused. They kept talking until Nicky suddenly spoke up and asked everyone to quieten down.

"So. There is a reason why we've asked you two here today. Lorna and I have something to tell you." Piper and Alex looked at her curiously. "We decided to move in together."

"Congratulations!" Piper and Alex said simultaneously. Alex was surprised and watched her friend. Was Nicky really committing to a relationship like that? That was the first time. Nicky Nichols usually didn't do serious relationships. And moving in together was the next step after getting serious. But Nicky seemed sincerely happy. Maybe things change for everyone?! Maybe after all now Nicky changed and settled down instead of her former habit of picking up girls in different bars. After all many things changed for Alex herself too when she met Piper. So Lorna was maybe Nicky's Piper. Alex truly hoped so. Nicky deserved to be happy and have someone who loves her. Even with their ups and downs Lorna and Nicky were a great couple.

"If you need help moving… We do have practice now." Alex chuckled.


	33. Chapter 33 Where did you go?

Chapter 33: Where did you go?

The months flew by and they got to a little routine in their everyday life which was okay with both women. They were shortly before their seven month anniversary and still madly in love and happy to have each other. Quite a few things had happened the last months but Piper and Alex always trusted that they belonged together and so they made it through smaller and bigger fights and everything else that was thrown at them by their everyday life. They had kept their tradition to make each of their monthly anniversary special and of course the flowers weren't forgotten.

Both businesses PoPi and PiDiaNi were flourishing. Alex had hired help to keep up with work and keep the customers satisfied. Piper and Polly had successfully developed a few new scents besides the few they started with and had standing orders from local hostels and smaller businesses. It was the beginning of october and everyone was in a fall-feeling.

Polly had told them at a warm august evening when all the friend were having a big barbecue together that she and Pete were expecting a baby. Everyone was surprised but happy for the couple. Also Polly asked Piper if she wanted to be the godmother and Piper was more than happy to say yes.

Her dad had kept his promise and stayed in contact making an effort to welcome Alex and keep up with his daughter. He became more and more accepting as he saw how happy his daughter was. Bill unfortunately had no influence on her mother so Piper and Carol had shaky to no contact. All Piper heard about her mother was what her dad told her but Piper was done trying to do as her mother pleases. Her dad's relationship with Alex was friendly and he finally accepted that his daughter loved a woman and lived with her.

In September Cal and Neri came over to visit Piper and Alex for a few days and they spend some amazing days together. By the end of the three days they had gone sightseeing, out to bars and talked about all kinds of things and Cal told Piper that he and Neri would get married. They had gotten engaged recently but hadn't shared it with many people yet. Of course Piper was happy for them.

Two weeks before their seven month anniversary Alex was very busy with her café. One day she was staying late and Piper wanted to surprise her. She got her her favourite sandwich and some sweets. She and Polly had finished a little earlier that day so Piper had time to prepare her surprise. She arrived at PiDiaNi and made her way to Alex's office.

"Hi, Bree." she greeted the young woman who worked for Alex, so she had time to keep up with the paperwork and orders and Bree was there to help with the customers.

"Hi Piper, Alex isn't …" she greeted back but Piper didn't hear anything but her hi as she went into Alex's office. Only to find it empty. Where was Alex?

'She said she'd be working late today? Maybe Bree knows.' Piper thought.

"Hey, Bree. Do you know where Alex is? I thought she was in her office but she's not." Piper asked.

"Uh, I was about to tell you that she wasn't here but you were so quick. She already left around lunch time and said she had something important to do." Bree said.

"Woah. Okay, thank you." Piper said now being completely confused about the whereabouts of her girlfriend. "Any idea where she was going?"

"No." now Bree sounded insecure, not sure if she did the right thing. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, uh, well, I'm just confused. She said she'd be working late so I thought I'd surprise her with her favourite sandwich and some snacks, but now I'm confused." Piper told her honestly.

"I'm sorry, she really didn't say anything." Bree said almost apologetically.

"Thanks though. See you later." Piper only said and left.

Piper went home and decided to wait there for Alex. She had to come home at some point and what else was Piper supposed to do? She tried to busy herself to not overthink where her girlfriend was and why she had told her she'd work late when she in fact left work early.

So when Alex arrived she had cleaned the apartment and cooked dinner.

"Mhm. It smells heavenly!" Alex said when she came into the kitchen. She went over to hug Piper. "Hi sweety." Piper was a little tense when she hugged her and gave her a peck on the cheek. "How are you?"

"Fine. You?" Piper tried to hide that she was mad.

"Good. You seem a little tense. Everything alright?" Alex asked a little worried.

"Yeah, everything is fine. Just a long day. How was your day?" Piper replied.

"It was okay. Long. Many orders and a few customers who had special wishes. Same as always." Alex told her.

"I made dinner. You must be starving as you just finished work." Piper said. She was getting more upset now that Alex still stuck with her story of working late. What had she done the whole afternoon? Why did she lie to Piper about it? Why wouldn't she tell her that she left work for something important today? Piper always told Alex everything. What was she hiding?

"Yeah definitely. Thank you. This looks and smells amazing." Alex was in a really good mood but noticed that her girlfriend was tense and something was bugging her.

They kept talking about their days and different things until they finished dinner. Piper's replies had been rather short and concise and Alex was now sure that something was up but wondered why her girlfriend wouldn't say anything.

"Okay. As you have already made this nice dinner I'll go and fetch some dessert. Wait a second. I'll be right back." Alex said and got up.

Couple minutes later Alex returned with a questioning look on her face. "Why is there a bag with my favourite sandwich and other snacks in the fridge that says 'To lighten up your long day.'"

"Well. Cause you weren't there today to eat it. I wanted to surprise you. You said you had to work late and I thought it would be nice to sweeten up your day and bring you your favourite sandwich along with some snacks that you like. But it turns out someone left work early and wasn't there to be surprised." Piper still tried not to show how mad she was but couldn't hide it very well anymore.

'Oh shit.' Alex thought. 'I didn't expect that. Fuck. I can't tell her the truth. That'll ruin the surprise.' "Oh. That was a very nice and thoughtful idea. I'm sorry Piper. Is that why you've been so mad the whole evening? Nice try to hide it, but I know you pretty well, don't forget that. I've had a meeting with one of the companies that I get my coffee from. It was on really short notice so I hadn't had much chance to tell anyone about it." Alex said and hoped Piper would believe her. She hated that she had to lie to her girlfriend but knew that she really couldn't tell her the full truth yet. That would ruin the whole thing she had planned for a bit now.

Piper seemed to accept her explanation even though she wondered why Alex hadn't told her about that during dinner. She had made it sound like she had been at work the whole day. But she decided to let it go and not push any further.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Everything good now? You're not mad anymore?" Alex tested.

"No. I was just super confused why you weren't at work and Bree said you left early and usually you tell me when you've got other appointments. So yes. Everything is fine and I'm not mad anymore." Piper said.

Alex had brought yogurt with fruit and enjoyed the rest of the evening together. The atmosphere wasn't so tense anymore.

XXXXX

The next week passed quickly and both women were busy with their everyday life. The had agreed to go out on friday evening as it was their seven month anniversary. Piper noticed Alex getting more tense and somehow off the later it got. By thursday she was completely off and even forgot her morning fruit shake that she always took to work. Piper was confused to find the shake standing in the kitchen and Alex nowhere to be found. When she asked her what was going on Alex just mumbled something incomprehensible and said she'd go to bed cause she was tired. Piper was a little confused by her behaviour but didn't want to push. Piper went on reading a bit and finally finished the book she had been reading for couple weeks and joined the black haired woman in bed. Alex was already sound asleep and Piper just stood there for a second watching her. She was so peaceful and beautiful. Piper again wondered what was going on to have Alex so on edge but figured she just had a lot going on at work and she'd tell her whenever she was ready to.

_I know this was a short one, but it'll be worth it. The next one is the longest I've written for this story so far and I'm sure you'll all like it. Also, I guess its going to be around 40 chapters, so slowly this story is coming to an end. I already have plenty of ideas for other stories. Also Vauseman, cause I'm just a huge fan. I haven't decided which idea I'll go with and write next, but there are a few stories I'll write and post at some point and who knows what season 7 is going to bring?  
_


	34. Chapter 34 You know what day it is

Chapter 34: You know what day it is

When Piper woke up she shortly indulged in the warmth and the cosiness of the bed. That was until she noticed she was alone and Alex had obviously already gotten up. She forced herself out of bed, it was so warm and cozy she didn't want to leave but she also wanted to see her girlfriend. She quickly got dressed and went into the kitchen where she expected to see Alex but the kitchen was empty. On the kitchen counter she found a little letter and next to it a white lily. She read:

'When I look at you, you're the only girl I see,

I want to make you feel important and very special to me.

Your smile makes me so happy and I hate to see you frown,

Don't worry, my angel, for I will never let you down.

I shall spend my life making sure that you know,

That you're my girl, my world, and I worship you so.

Piper. You know what day it is. ;-) I hope you have a great day. I can't wait to see you later.'

Next to it she found her blue dress that Alex really liked with a sticky note saying 'Please wear this today' on it.

Piper was touched by the poem and the thoughtfulness of everything prepared here for her. Alex obviously had something planned for today. Next to her dress and the poem she found a fresh and delicious smelling breakfast with her favourite bagel and steaming hot coffee which implied that Alex hadn't been gone for too long. She knew which day it was. It was their seven month anniversary and she was prepared. As she was working the whole day - she and Polly had made a plan of the many things that needed to be done - she had the flowers delivered to Alex's café just like the first one. She quickly send a thank you text to Alex but wondered why there was just one flower. Usually they had stuck to one flower for each month they had been together but Piper thought the day wasn't over yet. She ate the breakfast Alex had prepared for her and got changed into the blue dress. If Alex wanted her to wear it today she'd go along with her plans and see what the day would bring for her. Just then the doorbell rang.

'Who is this?' Piper wondered. 'I really don't have time for surprise visitors. I'm going to be late for work!' She opened.

"Dad?!" she said completely surprised. "What are you doing here?" then she saw the white lily in his hands.

"Hi, sweety. I'm your personal driver to work." he smiled at her. "Also I was asked to give you this." He handed her the flower. So there was her second one.

"Thank you. So Alex planned all of this?" Piper was touched but also confused to what was happening.

"Yes. But I can't tell you anything." They got into the car. Her dad used the drive to say a few things he wanted to tell his daughter.

"Piper. I hope you know how sorry I am for the first reaction when you told us that you were in a new relationship and your new partner was a woman. And I am also sorry that your mother is so unyielding and can't accept this. I am so proud of you for doing the things you felt were right for you and didn't give in to what anyone else might have expected you to do. I am thankful that after the first shock" he chuckled "you gave me the chance to be part of your life and see you this happy. It makes me happier than you can imagine to see you this happy. I had a chance to get to know Alex over the last months and she's a great woman. I hope your mother will come around one day and see that too. I hope that you two will always be happy and be there for each other as long as you both want to be together. I am so proud of you, Piper." he finished his little speech. They had arrived at the store and Piper was close to tears. She hadn't expected that. She was happy about her dad's words. About his words and some things he said the first time.

"Thank you dad." Piper couldn't really speak. She just hugged her dad and thanked him. "Hearing you say this means a lot to me."

"I think Polly is waiting for you, honey. Have a nice day at work." her father said and pointed at the door. She smiled at him and went inside.

"Hi Piper." Polly greeted her. She noticed that Piper was wearing the dress and of course she knew part of what was going on but she decided to start the morning as if this was a normal working day.

"Hi Polly. You won't believe the morning I have had so far. It's unbelievable!" Piper said still rather confused of how the day progressed.

"Tell me all about it!" Polly demanded. She knew what happened as Alex had shared parts of her plans with her but she knew that Piper was happy about her morning even if the confusion might be prevalent right now.

When Piper finished Polly just said: "That sounds like an amazing morning to me. You're so lucky. Ever since I'm pregnant and eating a bit more than usual Pete has been complaining I'd always steal his favourite snacks. I just say he should just buy more of it but those words fall on deaf ears…" Polly joked. "But now back to business. Remember the plan we had for today?"

So they started their work day. For the next hours it was all about the marketing and design for their newest scent. They were about to launch their new fall series and had their hands full with the last preparations. After couple hours of working Polly was suddenly gone and soon came back with a piece of paper and a flower. It was already around noon and shortly before lunchtime.

"Oh my… you too?" Piper asked surprised. "What is happening today?"

"Piper! Yes. Just enjoy your day. It's gonna be great. Cause you start your weekend right now, we got the most important things done and I know someone has plans with you today." Polly smiled.

"Oh wow. The whole day is planned through, is that right?" Piper asked. She was surprised and looking forward to what Alex had planned but all she actually wanted was to see Alex to thank her in person.

"Yes. It is. I don't know exactly what is planned but from the sounds of it you're busy for the day. Now take your flower and read your letter. I'm bursting with curiosity." Polly held up both things in front of her. She took them and read the letter.

'Pipes.

Even though you don't want to believe me sometimes (and I think your modesty is cute) you are the best thing that ever happened to me. You are the kindest and loveliest woman I have met. You are smart, big hearted, always stay curious for the world and the people around you and always manage to surprise me in the most different and positive ways. That you are very beautiful and sexy just puts the cherry on the cake. I love you with all that I am. Stay patient and we will see each other soon.

Love,

Alex'

Now Piper had tears running down her face. How could she deserve someone like Alex? She was the one who should be thanking the universe and everyone in it that the black-haired woman choose her to be her girlfriend. Polly quickly handed Piper tissues and asked her quietly if she was allowed to read the letter that Piper had read quietly. Piper silently nodded and handed her the letter. After Polly finished reading she had tears in her eyes too.

"God Piper. This is so sweet. I wish Pete would do something like that for me. If it shouldn't work out with you two can I have Alex?" she joked.

"Like that'll ever happen!" Piper laughed and punched Polly playfully in the upper arm.

Just then a man in a fancy black suit came in and interrupted the two friends.

"Miss Piper Chapman?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah. That's me." Piper replied with a questioning look on her face.

"Hi. My name is Scott Jones, I am your driver for the rest of the day and supposed to bring you to lunch now." he introduced himself.

"Hi. I got my own driver now?!" she looked at Polly. "I'll just stop wondering and see what Alex has planned for me today."

"Have fun!" Polly shouted as she left the building.

"So Scott. Where are you taking me?" Piper wanted to know. He very kindly opened the door of the car for her.

"I am not supposed to tell you, milady." he answered and gently closed the car door.

"Oh my… I wonder what else is planned for me today." Piper mumbled to herself. She had taken all of her flowers with her today so right now she was holding three of them between her legs holding on tight so the water glass wouldn't spill.

The driver took her to a place she recognized immediately as she had been there couple times already. Scott held his word and hadn't told her anything about where they were driving but now Piper saw the house and Diane standing in front of it. Obviously it was Alex's plan that she had lunch with her mom today.

"Here we are. I'll be waiting here to take you to your next destination later." Scott told her and quickly added: "Oh and I'm supposed to give you this." he handed her her next flower. Piper smiled widely. So there was the fourth. She wondered who would give her the other three. Probably Diane had her next one. She guessed Alex had one too but that left one. Was she meeting someone else after lunch with Diane? Nicky? Or had the driver another one for the drive to her next destination? Would she get the other flower from someone she knew?

"Hi Piper!" Diane greeted her with a big smile and open arms as she approached her.

"Hi Diane!" Piper hugged her. "I think I'm having lunch with you, is that right?" she chuckled.

"Yes. I made your favourite!" Diane told her.

"Oh wow. You didn't need to. But thank you. Wow this day is so unexpected. I don't know how Alex planned all of this but I'm impressed." Piper said.

"She's been planning this for a while now. But this is as much as I can tell you." Diane meant.

"Can't tell or 'I don't want Alex to be mad cause I said to much'?" Piper chuckled.

Diane just laughed and Piper was sure it was the second. They had lunch and kept talking for what felt like ages. Piper really liked spending time at Diane's place. She never noticed how time passed and how long she was there. Also she always learned something new about Alex. If it were old pictures or stories Diane told, Piper always had a great time visiting Diane.

When the driver knocked on the door and said it was time to drive to her next "appointment" Piper and Diane said goodbye. Piper got into the car and even though she thought she knew the answer she asked Scott where they were headed. Of course he said that he couldn't tell her and she replied that she had thought so but it was worth a shot.

Just then a text arrived and Piper took her phone out. When she saw it was from Alex she was curious and excited.

[Alex: Thank you for the flowers! Hope your day went well so far. ;-)]

[Piper: As if you wouldn't know.]

Piper smiled. Alex was so sweet. Thinking of Alex probably now standing in her café with the roses in her hands thinking of her made her heart beat faster and she couldn't wait to see her girlfriend later.

[Alex: I miss you. I'll see you later though. :-)]

[Piper: Can't wait.]

The driver stopped in front of the Liquid Temptation. Piper assumed she'd meet Nicky here. And she was right by that. When she went in she saw Nicky and Lorna in a booth obviously waiting and waving when they saw her. She went over.

"Hi you two." Piper greeted.

"Hey lucky girl!" Lorna hugged her. "Hey blondie!" Nicky was frank as always.

"So I guess the afternoon is ours, right? Isn't it a little early to go to a bar?" she looked at her watch. It was shortly past four.

"Ah too early my ass! Remember all the great times we had here? And if I'm right yours and Alex's first date was in this place?! Also the evening where you thought she was cheating on you. And many other very fun nights to follow." Nicky reminded her.

"Oh, that is true." Piper replied. She thought back to all the good and few bad memories she made in this place. "So you're delegated to be my entertainment for this afternoon until I hopefully meet Alex at some point later today?"

"You make it sound like a task. We do like spending time with you Piper!" Lorna explained.

"Yeah, me too. But Alex asked you to do this, right? This is all part of her plan for me today."

"Yes, if you need it so explicitly that is correct." Nicky rolled her eyes.

They girls kept talking about memories they made together and how they grew so close over the last couple months. Suddenly Nicky got all serious and said to Piper: "Piper, what I wanted to tell you for a while already, but never had the right moment: I am so happy for Alex that she found you. I haven't seen her as happy as in those last seven months. Also not as down as after your first fight but luckily that resolved pretty fast. Please don't break her heart, I don't know how she would be able to cope. As sappy as that might sound, and you'll only see me like this this one time, you two made me believe in love when I thought nothing can last and something like true love doesn't exist. So thank you for that. I'll stop this sappy shit right now."

Piper was speechless for a moment and felt tears rise up in the corner of her eyes. With breathy voice she replied: "Wow. Nicky. Thank you. And I promise you I won't break her heart. It would break mine too. I don't know what I would do without Alex. She is the best thing that ever happened to me."

"So. Before our time eventually ends and you go on to meet the person you've been waiting to see all day already I am supposed to give you this." Nicky handed her her sixth white lily.

"Thank you, Nicky. I was starting to wonder. Where did you hide it anyway?" Piper chuckled and took the flower.

The driver came in and picked her up to bring her to the next thing Alex had planned for her. Piper hoped with all her heart that the driver would take her to meet Alex this time. Nicky had said so but this day had been full of surprises.

"Is this the last time you'll be driving me today?" she asked Scott hoping the answer would be yes.

"Are you trying to figure out where I'll take you?" he laughed.

"Yes. You don't want to answer that, huh? Guessed as much." she quietly replied.

They didn't go very far and Piper noticed that the driver had stopped at Luigi's. Slowly Piper felt like this would be her last stop for today and she would finally see her girlfriend. Something she had been waiting for since she got up this morning. She entered the restaurant and was greeted by Louanne and shortly chatted with her before Louanne showed her to a table in a rather secluded area in the back of the restaurant. As they approached she finally saw Alex standing there waiting for her with a bright smile on her face. She looked amazing. She was wearing a tight black dress that ended just above her knee and had a see-through fabric as sleeves with a wavy pattern on it. With her high heels, red lipstick and everything together she just looked amazing. Piper walked faster and threw herself in Alex's arms.

"Finally. I've missed you!" Piper said before kissing Alex deeply.

"I've missed you too Pipes." Alex said after they parted.

"Also thank you. It must have taken ages to plan this whole day, hasn't it?" Piper wondered.

"It took some time but it seems you enjoyed it which means it was totally worth it." Alex smiled widely. Piper was so happy. She had had an amazing day thanks to Alex and now finally they were here together.

"I enjoyed it very much. Thank you for planning this. It was so sweet and surprising."

"I am glad everything worked out how I wanted it to. You are probably hungry, you had a full day!" Alex laughed.

"Yes, that's right actually." Piper laughed.

"So tell me about your day. I mean I know who you met but tell me what you did." Alex asked as they sat down. Luigi came over and said hello to Piper. They shortly chatted and Luigi excused himself back to the kitchen. They ordered drinks and food and Piper told her about everyone she met and what they had done.

"That's great!" Alex seemed impressed. "It seems like it was just yesterday that we met in Washington, yet it has been seven months already. I can't believe how time has passed so quickly."

"Yeah, that's true. I remember how I got something out of my pocket when you came in and I heard your voice before seeing anything and was curious already by just hearing your voice. Then I looked up and looked into those beautiful eyes of yours and I was intrigued even more." Piper told her slightly melancholic.

"You were the first person and only person in this room that I noticed. I had to concentrate hard during those three days to learn something." Alex chuckled at the memory.

"Yeah me too. I didn't listen to anyone's introduction until it was your turn. Oh my… how can that be seven months already?"

"I don't know. But I feel like I've known you forever." Their food arrived and both started eating.

"Same here though. It was like an instant connection. I'm glad we both decided to do this workshop." Piper contemplated.

"Yeah me too. The first time was kind of magical. First we had those amazing days in Washington and then I couldn't have been happier that you were living in New York too. I was scared that we had that connection and you were living in Philadelphia, Baltimore or Richmond or anything else further away."

"Yeah. I was scared of that too. Weird coincidence right?" Piper chuckled.

"I'm not sure if I'd call it coincidence."

"What else then? Fate?" Piper laughed.

"I don't know. Maybe something that sounds less pathetic." Alex retorted.

The food had arrived and Alex and Piper started eating.

"Mhm. God this is so good. Pity I'm not working here anymore but I'm happy to be full time at PoPi's. Uhm, remember when you came here with your mother not knowing I was working here?" she laughed.

"Yeah, I do. I also remember your flustered face when I told you I was there meeting my mom. It was hilarious." Alex laughed at the memory.

"How would have you reacted if you were suddenly and unexpectedly standing in front of me and my mother?" Piper countered.

"Uhm, remember I actually did? I came home one day and BOTH of your parents were standing there!"

"Oh my. Yes I remember. That was shortly after we moved in together. Sorry you had to go through this. Compared to that meeting your mom that evening was a visit at Disneyland."

"True." Alex chuckled. They both looked at each other seeing nothing but love in each others eyes.

Suddenly Alex became very serious. "However I also remember how I was too scared to tell you about my past and for way too long thought you couldn't handle it and thought I lost you for good. I'm happy you're still with me but that short time I thought you left for good was one of the worst times I can remember." she told Piper with a lump in her throat.

"Hey." Piper moved closer to Alex and tried to comfort her. "We're past that. That won't happen again, unless you got another thing like that that you haven't told me about."

"No. I promise." Alex smiled weakly.

"But I also remember how you stood up for me at the museum when Larry was a dick and god that was sexy. Just thinking about it now makes me want to leave immediately." Piper closed her eyes taking a trip down memory lane.

"So that's what gets you going? Me getting physical?" Alex chuckled.

"Gosh, stop. You and physical is too much right now. Now I got pictures in my head. Can we leave?" Piper asked being completely turned on with all the pictures of Alex and her in very intimate and sexy situations.

"Jeez, Piper. Slow down a bit. Not that I don't want to, but I still got some plans before that happens. And trust me whatever you got in your head right now is so on my plan for tonight." Alex laughed.

"Ugh, okay. Let me just quickly, okay. Worked. I'm back to normal." Piper smiled after imagining a few things that turned her off a little so she got the sexy pictures of Alex out of her mind.

They were done eating and the waiter came and asked if they wanted dessert but both women declined.

Soon Luigi came and brought a white lily, Piper had wondered when she'd get her last flower, and two glasses of champagne on a little tray. Alex took the flower and Luigi put the glasses in front of them and left.

"Piper. I guess you wondered when you'd get your last lily for today and of course the last one comes from me. The last seven months have been the best of my life. I never thought I could love someone like that. I never saw myself as a relationship person who went for this commitment completely. Then I met you and everything changed. You made me the happiest woman I could ever be. And half a day of thinking I lost you was enough to realize I don't want to be without you."

Alex got something out of her pocket and Piper sat there looking at her girlfriend waiting for what was to come. When Alex turned back around Piper saw that she had a little box in her hands and was surprised and shocked as she slowly realized what was happening.

"Piper. I love you with all that I am and I don't want to imagine my life without you in it. Would you do me the honour and marry me?" Alex asked looking at Piper nervously but hopeful.

"Oh, my. Alex! I, uhm. Yes. Yes, I do want to marry you." Piper could barely speak as her eyes were welling up with tears. She could see how the tension flew out of Alex and her face turned from anxious to the widest smile. She quickly got the ring out of the box and put it with her from excitement shaking hands on Pipers finger. Then she moved closer and pulled Piper into a kiss. When they parted they looked into each others eyes both with tears in their eyes but both as happy as they could be.

"Wow. And I love you too. I thought this day couldn't get any better but it just did." Piper smiled widely.

"I'm glad that you liked the things I had planned for you today." Alex chuckled.

"Are you kidding? How could I not?" Piper laughed and suddenly her face went serious. "Wait. Did everyone I met today know about this?"

"Oh, no. Just your dad, actually. I haven't even told my mom. I think she might know, she's always been way too perceptive and with the day I had planned I think she might have guessed. But your dad knows as I went to see him last week. Remember that day you were mad at me for not being at the café when you wanted to surprise me? I hate that I had to tell you I had a meeting but I couldn't tell you that I went to see your dad to ask him for his blessing." Alex explained.

"You went to see my dad? Oh, Alex that is so sweet. I love you Alex." Piper again had tears in her eyes. It has been a long, eventful and very emotional day for her. She slowly felt some exhaustion from all this but didn't really want to end the day yet.

They drank their champagne and decided to go home. When they left the staff of Luigi's congratulated them and Luigi insisted that the dinner and everything was on him, as it was his pleasure that one of his children as he sometimes used to call his employees got engaged.

"If he keeps doing that, he'll go bankrupt!" Alex said to Piper.

"Yeah, but it's useless arguing about it with him. He won't change his mind." Piper replied. They were walking the short distance from Luigi's to Piper's place. They were just walking up the stairs now and soon opened the door to her apartment.

"We could ask Luigi to do the food for our wedding and probably insist from the beginning that he's not gonna pay for it this time." Alex suggested.

"Yeah, we can talk about that later. Right now all I want is you. With a little less clothes on…" Piper said seductively and pulled Alex into her. They started slowly undressing each other until both women couldn't hold back anymore and it sped up very quickly. Soon they made their way to Piper's bedroom leaving a trace of clothes from hallway to the bed.

Later they laid both spent and cuddled up in bed and were both about to fall asleep.

"Good night, love." Alex whispered groggily.

"Good night, fiancée." Piper replied, giggled and both women fell asleep.


	35. Chapter 35 I've got something to tell yo

Chapter 35: I've got something to tell you

The next week flew by pretty fast. Alex and Piper were both happy and blissful the whole week. On monday Polly was very curious about Piper's weekend as she had been part of Alex's surprise for her now fiancée.

"Hi Piper." Polly greeted her with a wide smile when Piper came to work. "How was the rest of your day? And the weekend?" She shot her a half-knowing smile.

"Oh my god. So good Polly." Piper's eyes got dreamy thinking back to the weekend.

"Oh, come on! Tell me about it!" Polly couldn't wait.

"Well. The driver brought me to Diane. We had lunch and talked. She was the next one to give me one flower after the driver gave me the fourth. She even made my favourite! It was great. After that Scott drove me to meet Nicky and Lorna at the Liquid Temptation. We had a drink and talked about the last few months. Nicky was as serious as I've never seen her before and told me how happy she was for Alex and me that we met. It was so sweet. And then Scott took me to Luigi's where I finally met Alex. Who of course had the last flower for me. Along with a question and a little something." she held her hand up to show Polly her ring. Polly screamed in surprise.

"Oh my god. Piper! Is this what I think it is? Did she ask you to marry her?" Polly's eyes were wide open from surprise.

"Yes she did. And yes I said yes." Piper's smile was so wide it gave everything away. How happy and excited she was and the love she felt for Alex.

"Oh my god. Don't you think…" "...it is to soon?" Piper interrupted Polly's question. Polly nodded. "No. I don't think it is too soon. That's the point with Alex and me. Everything happens so fast but I never feel like it is too soon. And I am so ready to spend all of my life with her, Polly. She is the one I'm supposed to be with. Remember our discussion about the 'Right One'? I think - no I don't think- I know I found that one. If I didn't believe in it back then now with Alex I do. I can't imagine ever being with someone else. Nobody could make me as happy as she can."

"Okay. You got me convinced. I am so happy for you. Oh my god. You're getting married!" Polly was excited. She loved to plan parties and events and stuff like that.

"Yes. I'm so excited. You're the second one to know about this, so I guess the next couple days is gonna be me and Alex telling everyone." Piper felt joyful at the thought.

"Nobody else knows? Nobody you visited knew why Alex had planned all this?" Polly was surprised.

"No. Just my dad. He was the only one who knew what would happen later that day. Remember that day when I was so mad at Alex for not being at the café when I wanted to surprise her?" Polly nodded, rolling her eyes, she had thought Piper overreacted a little. "Well she was actually visiting my dad, asking for his blessing."

"Oh my, how cute." Polly grinned. At some points she was still fascinated by the couples love story and thoughtful and sweet behaviour with each other.

"Oh and I got a question for you, Polly." Piper said meaningful.

"Yes?" Polly stood there in anticipation.

"Will you be my maid of honour?" Piper asked with a big smile on her face.

"Of course!" Polly seemed happy that Piper asked her but who else should she have asked. Polly was and would always be her best friend.

XXXXX

On friday they planned dinner with Diane. They wanted to tell her together about their next step. Alex knew her mom would be very happy for them but was nervous to tell her nonetheless. The newly engaged couple was swimming in bliss the whole week and spent every second together that they didn't have to work. They had talked about when and where they would like to get married and where to go for their honeymoon. They were both surprised that their honeymoon would be the first time they went on holiday together. With their flourishing businesses both women had no chance to take off for a long enough period of time for a real vacation. They had been away for long weekends, so they took one day off. Longer just never worked out. They both liked the idea of getting married on the day they had initially met. It would be their one year anniversary and their wedding. They just weren't sure if they should take the weekend after, their anniversary would be a tuesday after all and they were sure most of their guests would have to work.

They met Diane at a restaurant close to her place, deciding not to go to Luigi's this time to mix things up a little.

"Hey girls. So great to see you." Diane greeted both with a big smile and a tight hug. "If possible you two look even happier than the last time I've seen you."

"Hi mom." Alex greeted her. Piper and Alex looked at each other meaningfully.

They went in, sat down and ordered as soon as the waiter came over with the menu and took the order for their drinks.

"So. How was your week? And especially last weekend?" Diane asked with a hint of 'I think I know what happened'.

"It was great." Alex started. Diane gave her a sign to go on. She was dying to know what happened last friday and if she made the right guesses.

"Oh, come on, Alex. Don't let me hanging like this. I might have an idea about what might have happened after lunch but I want to hear it from you!" Diane was getting a bit impatient.

"Oh, wow. Well I thought you knew something or guessed something, as I had been planning that day for a bit. And I don't know what your assumption was, but after Piper had lunch with you she met Nicky and Lorna and after that the two of us had dinner. And I asked Piper to marry me." Alex told her in one go.

"That's the perfect point to stop telling me." Diane said sarcastically. "But as I see you both happy and blissful I'll guess the answer was yes?!"

"Yes it was." Piper answered her and smiled widely at Alex.

"That amazing! I am so happy for you. Ever since I met you, Piper, I hoped my daughter here would realize what a catch she made and make sure not to ruin this. So far she's never introduced someone to me, let alone cared for someone as much as she does for you. She used to tell me she wasn't a relationship person and doing commitment like that. But after her trip to Washington I saw that something was different and she changed her mind. I am happy that it was you to be the reason for that change and that Alex realized what a great woman you are. I am so happy that you two found each other." Diane ended her little speech.

"Thank you, Diane." was all Piper could reply as now tears were streaming down her face. She was so touched by Diane's words that she could barely speak. She just simply added: "I actually think I'm the lucky one here. I mean you have an amazing daughter, Diane." she smiled widely and looked at Alex with all the love she felt for her in her eyes. Alex couldn't help but return the bright smile and her eyes showed pure love and adoration through a veil of tears in her eyes. Diane took the moment in and felt like she could burst any second from happiness.

"I love you." Piper quietly said.

"I love you too, Pipes." Alex replied and they exchanged a short kiss before starting a new less emotional conversation with Diane.

XXXXX

"Pipes, how does this look?" Alex asked stepping out of the bathroom. The two women prepared for Piper's father's birthday party and Alex wanted to make a good impression on the guests as she had developed a quite close relationship with Bill. Both women were fully aware that Piper's mom would be there too and she still hadn't spoken much with her daughter as she seemingly hadn't changed her mind yet, but Piper and Alex decided to ignore that for now and try to have a nice evening for Bill's sake.

"You always look great." Piper gives back.

"Seriously Pipes. Think the lipstick goes with the dress? I am not so sure about this." Alex asked a little annoyed.

"Yes, it does." Piper stepped closer and hugged Alex. "Why are you so nervous, babe?"

"I'm not nervous. I just want to make a good impression on your family and friends. Those I haven't met yet. Which I guess are quite a few." she tried to reason.

"They'll like you. Don't worry. I mean how could they not?" Piper smiled at Alex.

"Oh believe me, there are quite some people out there who could make you a list of reasons…" Alex replied. "And don't you think you're a little biased?" she chuckled. She pulled Piper closer who had been collecting the last things into her purse and gave her a peck on the neck. Piper turned around to face Alex and looked her into the eyes. She could melt every time she saw those beautiful green eyes.

"Maybe a little." Piper chuckled and kissed Alex. "But as your fiancée I am officially allowed and supposed to." she explained.

"Sure you are." Alex placed soft kisses on Piper's cheek and neck.

"If you keep doing this we're going to be late to the party." Piper warned.

"Are we?" Alex kept on kissing Piper and let her hands run down her body. A quiet moan escaped the blonde's mouth.

"Yes we are. I don't mind though, but you were so worried about the first impression." Piper said. She was enjoying this and already immensely turned on.

"Shit, you are right. I got totally distracted for a minute. But I'd rather not be late." Alex said slowly getting away from Piper.

They both got ready and left. Soon they arrived at Piper's parents house and were ready to go in.

"Hey girls." Bill greeted them with a big smile pulling first Piper and then Alex into a hug.

"Hi dad. Happy birthday!" Piper handed him the present they had brought. A bottle of red wine and a book they were both sure he'd enjoy reading.

"Hi Bill. Happy birthday." Alex said and they went inside.

Some guests were already there and some still arriving during the next half hour. Piper went looking for her mother. Even if they weren't on best terms right now she wanted to be polite and at least say hi. She found her in the kitchen preparing snacks for the party.

"Wait Piper!" she suddenly said when Piper turned to go back to the party after they said hello. Piper turned around to face her mother with a questioning look on her face.

"Would you mind lending me a hand?" Carol quietly said.

"Sure." Piper wasn't sure what her mother wanted by making her stay here but she wanted to find out. Carol though stayed silent for a bit while Piper was waiting for her to say something.

"I'm sorry Piper. That I've been like that. It has been hard for me though." she finally found words.

"Hard? For you to accept that I am happy? Why does it matter who makes me happy? The important thing should be that I am happy." Piper said.

"It doesn't matter. I am sorry that I acted like that and that I haven't found the courage to come to you and apologize for my behaviour. But you have to give me a chance to understand why I did what I did." Carol looked at her waiting for her answer.

"Ok. I'm listening." she quickly told her so her mother would go on.

"There are many reasons, actually. You know I was raised in a time when things like being with the same sex was frowned upon and not accepted. And I know that times change and today it is different but sometimes it is not that easy to adjust to that when you've been raised differently. The next thing you will understand if you'll have children yourself one day. When you give birth to a child you only want what's best for this little thing and try to give your child the best that you can. I know I failed that sometimes and I am sorry for that. But then you think of the life your little girl could have. How she could be a mom too one day and have something so small and amazing herself and have a home and could possibly do so much better than you yourself and you want to see all that happening. So it is hard when this picture you have of how amazing her life could be is destroyed and you don't know what her life might be like now. Then you realize it's not your life but hers and are mad at yourself for pushing her away when all she wanted was that you'd be happy for her." Carol said and soon added: "Piper I am sorry that I couldn't accept the fact that it is a woman who makes you happy earlier. I am sorry for how I behaved and hope you'll give me a chance to make it up to you and maybe get to know your Alex."

Piper was speechless. She just looked at her mother unbelievingly and felt shocked by her moms explanation and apologies. She noticed her wet cheeks, she obviously had been crying while her mom told her all this. She had been waiting really long for her mom to at least acknowledge that she had been wrong. Never though had she expected all this. She went over to her mom and hugged her. Carol was taken aback for a second but soon returned the hug.

"Thank you, mom. It's so great to hear you say that." she said tears still running down her face.

Like this - hugging and both crying - Alex found mother and daughter in the kitchen after looking for Piper when she had been gone for longer than Alex had expected. Carol loosened the hug and went over to Alex.

"I think I owe you an apology too. Alex I am sorry for my reaction and what I said the first time we met. I guess there is no way I can take back the first impression but I hope you'll give me a second chance to make it up to you and Piper. Bill has told me a bit about you and I'm sorry I couldn't see how good you are for Piper and how happy you make her. If you give me another chance I'd like to get to know you, Alex."

Piper noticed that Alex too was surprised by the change of her mother's behaviour but found words sooner than Piper.

"Thank you. Apology accepted. And I'd like that." she cautiously smiled at her.

"Nothing to thank for. This was long overdue." Carol said. "I'll leave you two alone for a second. Just one question. If you come outside could you bring the last bowls with snacks? Thank you." she said and left.

"Yeah of course." Piper only said now turning to Alex. "Did this really just happen? I feel like I dreamed this and wake up soon only to realize this didn't happen."

Alex chuckled. "It did happen, Pipes. It's somewhat unbelievable but I am glad she finally found the courage to apologize and noticed her mistakes."

"Wow. You'll need to remind me tomorrow though again." Piper chuckled. "I just can't believe it."

"What did you do to mom?" Piper asked her dad when she ran into him a bit later.

"Why? What did she say?" he was anxious.

"Oh nothing bad. Actually really good. She finally came around and apologized for her behaviour." Piper told him, the amazement and happiness still visible in her eyes.

Her dad seemed to lose some tension. "That's great. I hoped she would but I can't make her do anything. I'm glad she finally found the courage."

Later in the evening Piper got something to drink when her mom joined her. Alex was engrossed in a conversation with Piper's cousin.

"Hey, honey. How have you been?" her mother wanted to know.

"Uhm, good actually. PoPi is still growing and we're doing great. I've been working a bit more, cause Polly is always easily exhausted recently with the baby coming. Alex is still great and we're happier than ever. I couldn't be happier right now." Piper said sincerely and her smile gave away how happy she was.

"That's so great to hear. Now tell me a bit about that girlfriend of yours. I want to know whatever you are ready to tell me." Carol asked.

"Uh, well. I could start with the fact that she's not my girlfriend anymore but as of recent I like to call her fiancée…" Piper started but got interrupted by Carol.

"You two are engaged?" she sounded really surprised.

"Yes." Piper answered quietly and suddenly a little anxious of her mother's reaction.

"That's great Piper. I've been watching you two a little this evening and it is obvious how happy and in love you and Alex are. Again I am sorry I couldn't see that earlier but I love to see you this happy. That's all I ever wanted for you. Congratulations!"

"Thanks, mom." Piper was relieved.

"Do you have a date already?" Carol asked.

"Not really. We intended to take the day we first met. It would be our first anniversary but it is a tuesday and we both don't want to ask everyone to take a day off for the wedding so I think we'll decide to take the weekend after. The saturday should be the 15th of March. But it's not completely decided and we'll let everyone know soon."

"Oh my. I'm a bit excited I have to say. My little girl is getting married!" Carol said. Piper was still getting used to her mother's newfound happiness and interest in her life. Not that she didn't appreciate it, it was just very new to her.


	36. Chapter 36 Holidays and big decisions

Chapter 36: Holidays and big decisions

Cal and Neri, who had already announced their engagement in September and decided for a winter wedding just two weeks before christmas. Piper had been able to improve her relationship with her mother and Carol had put extra effort in making things up to her daughter and Alex. She had gotten to know her soon-to-be daughter-in-law better and to Piper's astonishment and satisfaction they had gotten along quite well. Her brother's wedding was one of the first family events that Piper was looking forward to and sure she'd fully enjoy it. In the past family events had been about status, pretending to be happy and living the life she should be with her upbringing. So this was the first time she could just enjoy the party and not pay so much attention to what she tells to whom and try to behave like the perfect child her mother had expected her to show to her friends. She had talked a lot about it with her mother and was happy that she had loosened her expectations a little. So this party she could actually have fun.

The ceremony wasn't exactly a traditional one but seeing that neither Cal nor Neri were it was perfect. They had decided to have the ceremony and celebration afterwards at their parents lake house. For the ceremony a friend of Cal's had built an altar out of wood and leaves and it was placed in a clearing in the forest next to the lake house. While the ceremony was held and the couple said its vows Piper was happy for her little brother but looked mostly at Alex thinking that they'd stay in the same place in a few months saying their vows. The thought of that made Piper happy and she actually couldn't wait. The couple had finally decided to get married the weekend after their first year anniversary and were planning already. The just had about three months left. It was december and the ceremony happened outside. Everyone had been warned in their invitations to bring warm clothes as part of the wedding would be outside. With the frozen branches and a few patches of snow around the clearing and guests it had a magical feeling to it. As soon as the ceremony was over and everyone said their best wishes and congratulations to the newly weds they went to the lake house to warm up at the hot oven and a hot drink.

"As you see, we don't have any designated seats. You can just sit down wherever you want to talk with whoever you want." Cal declared as he saw the first guests searching for name tags.

Alex and Piper quickly decided for a table and were soon joined by Cal's high school friend and best man Josh and his girlfriend Aylin. They had two empty seats left at the table which were soon filled by Neri's brother and his wife.

"Hi, Piper. Nice to see you again. We haven't seen each other since when? When Cal and I graduated?" Josh guessed.

"Hi Josh. Yeah, probably. It's nice to see you again, too." Piper greeted back.

"I think you haven't met my girlfriend Aylin yet. So, Piper this is my girlfriend Aylin, Aylin this is Piper, Cal's big sister." the two women shortly greeted each other.

"No, we haven't. But if we do the introductions now then Alex, this is Josh, Cal's best man, best friend from high school and I think the only one from high school he's still hanging out with, Josh, this is my fiancée Alex." she introduced the two of them.

"Hi Alex. Nice to meet you." Josh greeted Alex who politely greeted back.

"It's funny, you're the first person to not be super surprised when I introduce Alex as my fiancée." Piper laughed.

"Yeah, well. I guess everyone is surprised that your fiancée is a woman. But I think you know that. I am not surprised because I knew before that you liked girls. Cal told me back in the day about you and your girlfriend Helena. So no surprises here. You know, since he told me that I always thought you were the coolest person ever. Everyone else was always trying to live by their parents rules but you were all - I wouldn't say rebellious, but different. I know you haven't told them back then, but if it was me I wouldn't have either. So yeah. You were like my secret hero." he laughed.

Piper was speechless. She had never thought someone could think about her like that just because she had a girlfriend. "Wow. Thank you, Josh, I guess. I didn't know that."

Alex was fascinated by Josh's confession but also proud of Piper for being someone that younger kids back then looked up to. Not because she was badass or something like that but because she didn't let herself be limited by her parents or social rules that she might have been raised with.

They ate and kept talking with Josh and his girlfriend. Every now and then they went dancing or got themselves a drink but they really enjoyed the evening and had a lot of fun.

When Piper and Alex went to bed they were both exhausted from all the dancing and the drinks. They got into their pyjamas and cuddled up. Piper always felt so secure in Alex's arms that she savoured every moment. Right now she had her arm across Alex's stomach and her head on her shoulder while Alex's arm was over her shoulder and her hand rested on her side. While Piper enjoyed this position because the two women were so close she also liked the perfect view on Alex's breasts right in front of her.

Alex had said something and obviously was waiting for Piper's reply. "Pipes?"

"Huh? Sorry I was distracted by the view for a second. I didn't listen. Sorry." she said.

"It's dark out… Oh, I guess you didn't mean that view." Alex chuckled but got turned on by the thought that Piper enjoyed the look on her body so much that she got completely distracted.

"Exactly. Maybe I'm a little short sighted…" Piper said trailing off again.

Piper's hands moved from her stomach up to her breasts and Alex moaned. Soon that first one was followed more moans by both Piper and Alex as they both discovered they were never too exhausted to love each other.

XXXXX

The next two weeks passed quickly and everyone was looking forward to the holidays. They were all celebrating at Piper's parents house. Cal and Neri would be back from their honeymoon and Carol and Bill had invited Diane to join them if she wanted to and with her daughters affirmation that all tensions had been reduced she was happy to accept the invitation.

They had decided to do the Chapmans family traditional turkey and for dessert they would have marshmallows at the Chapmans fireplace like Diane and Alex had done since she was a kid.

Piper was excited and a little nervous if Alex liked what she had gotten her but also really curious for Alex's gift. They were now lying in Piper's childhood bedroom cuddling and talking about their evening, recent events and a few other things.

"Woah, I'm so full. I don't think I have eaten this much in ages." Alex said smiling at Piper.

"Yeah, same. But it was so good." Piper stroked her belly. "My little food baby. I feel bloated." she chuckled.

"Everything okay, babe?" Piper wondered when Alex got pretty quiet and showed no reaction.

"Yeah. I'm ok." she still was very serious. Piper wondered where that sudden mood change came from.

"Okay. I just don't understand why you're so serious and quiet right now." Piper said, hoping Alex would explain. Alex contemplated for a while but then obviously decided to tell Piper, because at some point it was inevitable to talk about this anyway.

"Would you want that? I mean we never talked about this. I think at some point we need to discuss it." Alex asked and Piper wasn't sure what she meant. When Alex saw the confused look on Piper's face she added: "We never talked about the fact if we want to have children one day. And if we want to spend the rest of our lives together I think we should do that."

"So this is where it came from. Oh, wow. Big question, huh?" Piper went quiet for while until she answered. "I think I do. I mean most of my life I've been picturing myself being a mother one day. And I think someday, yeah, I'd like to have kids. But that still has time." then she slowly added: "What about you?"

"I, uhm, I don't know, Pipes. I've never seen myself as a family person. I never really thought about if I wanted to have children one day. Everytime a friend had a kid and they said some day it'll be your turn too, I just thought: 'yeah right, like that's ever gonna happen.' But I've never seen myself as a relationship person either so it never really got far enough to even think about that, you know. And look at me now." she chuckled. "I'm lying in bed, my fiancée in my arms and I couldn't be happier. So, I actually don't know. I just have no idea how I am with kids and if I really want this." Alex explained. Piper stayed silent for a bit and thought about it for a second.

"Okay. I get what you mean. I think we don't have to decide that right now, do we? We've got plenty of time. We can figure this one out a bit later."

"You sure about this? What if I come to the conclusion that it's not what I want? What if I'll never be sure about if I want it or not?" Alex asked nervously. Piper was surprised how insecure Alex suddenly had become. Usually she was the confidence in person.

"Sh. Calm down a little. Okay. One idea: We don't have to make this decision right now. Polly will have a baby really soon. I will be his or her godmother. We can babysit him or her and see how we are with a baby. Good point about babysitting is you can always give them back." Piper smiled a little hoping to lighten up Alex mood a little and convince her that she could make her decision later and without any pressure.

"Okay. That sounds like a good idea. We can do that. But what if I come to the conclusion, that I don't want children? You just said you'd like to have kids one day. What if this is a thing I can't give you? I mean aside from the biological impossibility of getting you pregnant…" Alex chuckled and Piper was glad she was in a mood for jokes and less tense.

"Al, then we'll find a solution. I love you. And if that would mean it'll be just the two of us maybe I can arrange with not having kids. But that's a future discussion to have, if your decision will be like that." Piper answered honestly.

"Okay. And I love you too. I'm just a little nervous. I mean you'd get to decide over another humans life until they're old enough to decide for themselves. It's just so much responsibility. I'm not sure how I could handle that, if I messed this up." Alex went on explaining.

"It's okay. Yes, it is a lot of responsibility, but with a role model like your mother? You could never mess that up. You had the best example growing up. The most important thing a child need is its parents love. So it would be the happiest kid ever. I can tell you it feels amazing to be loved by you." Piper said and kissed Alex sweetly.

"Thanks, Pipes. You sound pretty sure about the fact that I'd be a good mother." Alex chuckled.

"Yeah. Cause your loving and kind and smart and so much more. The list would be too long right now." Piper chuckled. "So yes, I think that you would be a great mother but it's still your decision if you want be one."

"Thanks. It's nice to hear that you see me like that." Alex smiled widely. "I love you."

"I love you too." Piper replied and they cuddled closer and eventually fell asleep in each others arms.

XXXXX

The next morning a heavenly smell came through the whole house. Piper and Alex woke up and both tried to figure out what it was that smelled so good.

"Oh my. I think my mom made her traditional cinnamon rolls." Piper told Alex excitedly and already jumped out of bed.

"Wow. I think you've never been out of bed this quickly." Alex laughed. "But it does smell amazing."

"It's christmas and we're having cinnamon rolls for breakfast. That's all I need to get out of bed quickly. And I can't wait for you to open the present I got you." Piper was bursting with excitement.

"Presents? I knew I forgot something." Alex said trying to hold up a poker face and playing all serious. It seemed to work as her fiancées expression went from excited to shocked but soon back to a small hopeful smile. "You are joking right now, aren't you? You can't be serious."

"Yes, Pipes. I was joking. Of course I haven't forgotten my present!" Alex laughed but earned herself a playful punch in the arm.

"Don't do that. You had me there for a second!" Piper laughed too.

"Okay, okay. Merry Christmas, Pipes." Alex said and kissed her tenderly.

"Merry Christmas, Al."

_Hey everyone. Next update is going to be next monday instead of friday. I'm still working on the chapter and won't have time to post on friday. I hope you enjoyed this one. Let me know._


	37. Chapter 37 Preparations

Chapter 37: Preparations

The next months went by way too fast for everyone's liking and there was only one month left until Piper and Alex were getting married. At christmas everyone had laughed very much when they actually got each other nearly the same christmas presents. Piper couldn't believe her eyes when she unpacked a small silver bracelet with her's and Alex's name engraved and a book that she wanted to read for a while already. When Alex showed up her necklace and book everyone had burst into laughter. They had spent New Year's Eve with Nicky, Lorna, Pete and an already pretty pregnant Polly. Her due date was a month after Piper's and Alex's wedding. Polly was excited for both already but hoped that everything went well and her baby wasn't born early or that other complications happened. So far everything looked perfectly fine and everyone was confident that everything would go as planned.

Piper and Polly were in a wedding gown boutique and looking for a dress for Piper. She had already tried on a few but hasn't found one where she was convinced that this was the dress she wanted to get married in. She kept looking but slowly thought maybe they should try another boutique. Just then she saw one dress among a few others that she hadn't seen before and already thought she liked it just looking at it and she hadn't even tried it on. She decided to try it on. Polly was around the corner looking for other dresses.

"Piper, where are you?" Polly asked when she couldn't find her.

"Changing. I found another one. And oh my. I just looked in the mirror." Piper said.

"Show me! What does it look like?" Polly got excited by Piper's surprised words.

Piper stepped outside and saw Polly eyes widen and a positively shocked expression on her face. "Oh Piper! This is amazing. You look fantastic. That dress is perfect for you!"

"Yeah, right?!" Piper was happy. Seeing herself now in the big mirror it was clear she found the dress that she had been looking for.

"Everything alright over here?" the saleswoman came over.

"Yeah. I think I found the dress." Piper just replied smiling widely.

"That's amazing. Any changes? A bit shorter? Tighter? How is the fit?" she asked.

"Pretty good already." she explained where she would like small alterations and was beaming with glee that she found the perfect dress.

"Your future husband is going to love it, it really fits perfectly." the woman said.

"Uhm, future wife actually." Piper corrected her. "And yeah, I'm sure Alex is going to love it."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" she blushed and quickly hurried away.

Piper laughed. "God, people are always so weird when they say the wrong thing and you correct them. And suddenly they're all 'Oh my god I shouldn't have presumed that she's with a man.' and all embarrassed and rushing away."

"Yeah, well… People always assume Pete and I are married when they see my belly. I think the old social expectations are still in peoples heads. It's going to take a while until that is going to change I guess." Polly answered and chuckled.

XXXXX

"Hey, Pipes. How was your day?" Alex asked when she got home that evening.

"Amazing. Yours?" she replied.

"It was pretty good. Is that all you'll give me? Amazing? Why was it amazing?" Alex wanted to know looking at Piper curiously.

"Well I told you I would go looking for a dress with Polly today." she said teasing Alex a little.

"Yes, and? Did you find one? How many did you try?" Alex chuckled.

"I lost count. But yes. I found the most perfect one. I already love it and you will two. It's just a month until you get to see it." Piper laughed.

"Great. I can't wait. Actually I think I found something too. I actually found two things that I really like but might need help with the decision. I might just ask Nicky or my mom, cause I obviously can't ask you." Alex laughed. Piper laughed too and both women made themselves comfortable on the couch and watched a movie. Couple minutes after the movie ended Alex got up and left. Piper was confused and wondered what Alex was up to but soon she came back with a bouquet of twelve white lilies.

"Happy eleven month anniversary, Pipes." Alex smiled.

"Oh my…, thank you. I have to confess that I forgot to buy flowers with all the hectic and preparation of the wedding. Polly and I went to that flower store after we went to look for a dress but they just had eight roses and we didn't have time to go to another." Piper shortly disappeared and came back with said eight roses. "I'm sorry." Piper looked away guiltily, feeling upset that she had forgotten about it before and then didn't have a chance to get the twelve flowers she was meant to give to Alex.

"Hey." Alex said, she cupped Piper's face and made her look into her eyes. "It's okay. You didn't forget and it's not your fault the store just had those eight roses. I love you, even if you hadn't had any flowers today."

"Yeah, but I should've thought of it earlier, then I'd have had the chance to get you eleven just like you did for me." Piper said still upset about the missing flowers.

"Stop, Piper. It's fine. The gesture is what counts. I'll imagine that there are eleven roses. How about I show you how grateful I am that you remembered our anniversary and got me flowers." Alex said, her voice raspy and seductive. She moved closer to Piper who was already really turned on by Alex looking at her like that and literally just by sitting so close to her.

"H-ho-how?" Piper stumbled. Alex was amused how easy she could turn Piper into a stuttering mess.

"You know how." Alex said, her voice even raspy and her eyes full of desire and lust that it let Piper melt right in front of her.

"A-actually, I-I sh-should be th-thanking you." Piper tried. She knew she had no chance to regain her straight thinking and control over herself when Alex was seductive and sexy like that. Soon she gave up and let Alex take control.

XXXXX

The maids of honour or better maid of honour Polly and best woman Nicky (she had insisted on that), planned the bachelorette parties for Alex and Piper a couple days before the wedding. Both weren't giving away much but Nicky, as expected, couldn't stop herself from comments that they'd get wasted and go to a strip club or other things like that. Alex was desperately hoping this wouldn't be what Nicky was planning.

Both were picked up at seven. Nicky and Polly arrived around the same time.

"Let's go ladies. We gotta celebrate those last days of being a free woman." Nicky shouted when entering the apartment.

"Hello to you too." Piper laughed.

"Hi. Better say your goodbyes, because this party ship is about to sail." Nicky said pointing at herself and Alex.

"Okay okay…" Piper turned to Alex and kissed her. Smiling at her she said "Bye, honey. See you later. Have fun with Nicky. I love you."

"I love you too. You have fun with Polly. See you, babe." Alex replied and headed out with Nicky.

"So what are we gonna do?" Piper turned to Polly.

"You'll see." Polly grinned.

"Gosh, still? You've been keeping it from me since you started planning it. We're literally are starting it right now and you can't tell me what we are about to do?" Piper patience was slowly fading.

"You'll see soon." Polly just said and they left.

XXXXX

The next morning both women woke up groaning. They had been back home very late and fell into bed, both not just a little intoxicated.

"Morning, Pipes." Alex's voice was raspy and a little hoarse from just waking up and her long night involving quite a bit of alcohol.

"Morning, Al. Are you so fucking hungover too?" Piper said sounding miserable.

"Yeah. Horrible." Alex just replied. She felt like throwing up but hoped to keep everything in.

"I wish I could just go on sleeping, so I don't feel like this. But I can't fall asleep feeling so miserable. Also, I'm awake. Like not tired at all which is weird because it was pretty late last night, or rather this morning." Piper rambled.

Alex had to laugh which caused her head to pound even more than before so she quickly stopped. "How much residual alcohol do you still have?"

"Why? Do I still sound that drunk?" Piper wondered.

"You started rambling. You never do that when you feel miserable. Usually you barely say anything." Alex told her.

"Well it has been quite a lot, so I'm certain not everything has left my body. There is probably enough left…" Piper said.

Alex got up and went to the bathroom. Piper didn't dare to move. It was too much. Soon Alex came back with two glasses filled with water and two aspirin.

"There you go." she handed Piper the glass and tablet after she sat up.

"Oh thank you. You are an angel." Piper exclaimed.

"Ugh, I always hoped being an angel would feel better." Alex chuckled.

"Very funny." Piper just replied sarcastically.

"Not in the mood for banter. I see. I'll stop." Alex said.

"Not in the mood for anything really." Piper told her.

"Then let's just lie here together, sulking in our misery." Alex said to Piper and turned her over so she could hug her as her little spoon.

"Mhm. I love when you spoon me like that." Piper said a little sleepy. Now with the painkiller doing its work she felt better already, she still had a very queasy feeling but the painkiller had already helped a lot, also - being cuddled up in Alex's arms did wonders to help her feel better.

"I love that too. And I love you." Alex replied.

"I love you too." Piper managed to say and fell asleep.

When they woke up again later they both felt better already.

"You think you can stomach some food?" Alex asked.

"I think I do. I'm not sure if this numb feeling in my stomach is still complaining about too much alcohol or if I'm hungry. Maybe both?!" Piper contemplated.

"I'm kind of happy we convinced Polly and Nicky to do the parties couple days before our wedding and not the night before as they had planned it. Imagine we got married today feeling like this." Alex chuckled.

"Oh no. Now that you say it, I'm happy about that too. Gosh, that day would have been miserable." Piper laughed. "Still, I can't wait for saturday." she smiled widely at Alex.

"Me neither." Alex returned and kissed Piper.

They went into the kitchen and made breakfast. Or rather lunch, it was already shortly past noon. They kept talking until they heard a knock on their door.

"Hi Alex." Polly greeted her after Piper had let her in.

"Hi Polly." she shortly greeted back.

"How are you two?" Polly asked them.

Alex answered for them "Slightly better than miserable. This morning we both were the worst, now it's getting better. Tomorrow we should be okay. It can just go uphill from this."

Polly laughed. "Okay. You guys let me know if you need anything. I actually just came to check if you two are okay. It seems you are getting there so I'm gonna leave. I promised Pete to have lunch with him. With the new shift he has later lunch breaks."

"Thank you for stopping by. Have fun with Pete." Piper said when she walked her out.

"What a day." Piper said. "Wanna watch a movie and cuddle on the couch?"

"That sounds like an amazing idea. Yes, I do." Alex said. Piper giggled. "What is so funny about that?"

"Oh nothing. Just repeat those last two or three words on saturday and you'll make me the happiest woman ever." Piper said laughing. Alex tried to remember what she just said until it hit her. She had to laugh.

"Do you think I'd say something different?" she chuckled, amused by Piper's comment.

"No. I don't think so." she just shortly explained.

"Good. Because that's definitely what I'm going to say." Alex said and kissed her soon to be wife.

"Good. Because so will I." Piper smiled.

"Great, then let's watch that movie now, shall we?" Alex asked and turned the tv on.

XXXXX

The next days till their big day were filled with the last preparations like decorating the location where the party later would be. They had help from their mothers, Nicky, Lorna and Polly. Polly did smaller things like set up the decorations, cause her belly was pretty big, after all she was already close to eight months already. Carol and Diane helped them set up the tables and the flowers they had picked out for decoration. Slowly it got closer to how Piper and Alex had imagined it.

Carol had, ever since their conversation on her husbands birthday party, made quite an effort to make it up to Piper and Alex. She had invited them to dinner quite a few times and they went out to other cultural events like theatre, a museum or the cinema. She had given her best to get to know Alex. Carol saw how happy her daughter was and that Alex was a good woman and she was happy that her daughter found someone who meant that much to her.


	38. Chapter 38 The big day

Chapter 38: The big day

Finally their big day arrived. It was saturday morning and Alex woke up alone in her bed. Polly had insisted that Piper stayed over at her place the night before. Alex had argued that this wasn't exactly a traditional wedding so why keep that tradition that the future wives couldn't be together the night before the wedding? But Polly wouldn't let that count and argued back that exactly for the reason that the rest wasn't traditional a few traditional things had to stay. So Piper and Alex had separated the evening before with many 'I love you's' and 'I can't wait to see you tomorrow'. As soon as she realized which day it was after waking up, she smiled widely and felt excitement flowing through her body. Today would be the day she'd marry the love of her life. If anyone would have told her about a year ago that soon she'd meet the love of her life and would get married a year later she'd declared them crazy and cut all contact. But right now she couldn't be happier. Well she would be happier later when she would finally see Piper in her wedding dress and they'd say their vows.

They had planned this day for months, of course Alex was nervous if everything went how they had planned it, but the first thing occupying her mind was not what could possibly go wrong, cause to her it wouldn't matter if smaller things went wrong. She would get to marry Piper today and that was what would make her the happiest woman alive. She however knew that it would matter to Piper, who, as all girls that grew up like her, had been imagining her perfect wedding since she was a young girl. For her Alex wanted to make this day perfect and just how her soon-to-be-wife wanted and had planned it.

"Vause you look amazing. You ready to end your life as a free woman?" Nicky said coming into Piper's and Alex's apartment where Alex was getting ready for the most important day of her life.

"Very funny, Nichols. How long have you been holding that one back?" Alex chuckled with a roll of her eyes.

"Not that long, seen the point I wouldn't have reckoned you as someone to ever get married." Nicky told her rather seriously.

"Well, things change when you meet the right woman." Alex said, a goofy smile creeping up on her face.

"I'm gonna leave, before I have to throw up." Nicky chuckled. "no, but seriously I am happy for you. I've never seen you as happy as with Piper. I know you two are great together. I wish you both happiness and all that stuff, I don't want to sound too sappy though."

"Save it for your speech at the party." Alex replied.

"No, that time is already reserved for your 'first time in a bar' story." Nicky laughed.

"Oh my god. Don't you dare!" Alex replied with a slightly threatening tone in her voice.

"What? I think everyone wants to hear that." Nicky laughed at the memory.

"If you tell that story, remember I've got some good ones about you too. And who knows which one will come into my mind first?!" Alex tried acting like it didn't matter that much when really she still didn't want anyone to know about what happened that night.

"You think I care about those old stories?!" Nicky chuckled. She seemed to enjoy this.

"Okay, enough of this! I'm ready and with a look on the clock it's about time to leave." Alex said, now getting a little more excited and nervous. It was about to happen. She was going to get married.

Nicky and Alex arrived at the location. Alex and Piper had rented rooms in a nearby multifunctional center. They had one room in the center which was built round, as a circle, where Piper and Alex decided the ceremony would take place and another room that was big enough for everyone to celebrate after the ceremony. To use the round form of the room Piper and Alex decided to put the altar right in the middle of the room. The guests would be placed in circles around them, leaving two aisles on opposite sides, so Alex and Piper would walk in from opposite ends and meet in the middle. Everything was nicely decorated with flowers, just a little and not to much. They both thought that they didn't need too much decoration because the rather discreetly decorated room looked amazing with just that little that was there.

Quite a lot of the guests had already arrived as the ceremony was about to start soon. Alex saw her mom walking towards her with a bright smile.

"Hi Alex. You look amazing. Oh, I'm so proud of you. How do you feel?" Diane asked, the excitement clear in her voice.

"Excited, nervous, a little bit scared." Alex replied. Diane hadn't seen her daughter this nervous before but wasn't it normal to be nervous and excited at the same time on your own wedding day?!

"Hey. Look at me." Diane ordered her daughter. Alex looked into Diane's eyes and felt a little calmer. "I am so happy for both of you. You couldn't have found anyone better and more fitting for you than Piper. You two are meant to be. I know you had good and bad times and you'll have good and bad times in future too. That's life. But you two will manage whatever life throws at you. I'm sure about that."

"Thanks, mom. Though I'm not nervous or scared that Piper might not be the right woman for me, because I'm like 110 percent sure of that. There's no doubt that today is the best decision I'll ever make. No. I already feel like this is gonna be the best day of my life. I'm rather nervous if everything goes as planned, you know?" Alex said.

"It will. You spent so much time organizing everything. And if something happens, we'll find a solution. You have so many people who are more than happy to help out if anything went wrong, which is not gonna happen. So calm down and get ready to say your vow." Diane looked at her daughter lovingly.

"Okay, okay." Alex laughed feeling a bit calmer already being reassured that everything would be perfect on this very important day.

Diane and Alex stood at one end of the aisle that Diane would walk her down in just a few minutes. All the guests were sitting in their seats, starting to quiet down. Polly and Nicky had taken their places next to the spots where Alex and Piper would be standing after their walk down the aisles. If Alex was nervous if everything went as planned before now she was excited and couldn't wait to see Piper walking towards her. She was bursting with curiosity which dress she had chosen. Alex was more than sure that Piper would look absolutely breathtaking no matter what she decided for, but she really wanted to see her soon to be wife now. The music started to play. Alex felt her heart beat faster. It was time. Diane took her hand, looked at her reassuringly and both women started walking. On the other side she could see Piper standing next to Bill also walking slowly down towards the altar in the middle of the room. As soon as Alex saw Piper all nervosity and worries were blown away. Her eyes were transfixed to Piper's and she couldn't help but smile so wide. All her attention was on Piper and she felt like everything else had just vanished. Somehow they reached the altar and Diane said I love you before letting go of Alex and sitting down in the seat right in the front. Alex saw how Bill kissed his daughter on her cheek and told her he loved her and then sat down next to Carol.

"You look amazing, Pipes. You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." Alex said.

"Thank you, Al. I could say the same. You are absolutely stunning." Piper said looking at Alex lovingly.

Alex mouthed a 'Thank you' to Piper as the officiant asked if they could start. When they affirmed he started his speech. The couple had talked to him before the ceremony and told him how they met and a bit of their story through the last year. He talked about how they had met for the first time and continued to put in the effort to make the relationship work. Both women felt like there wasn't that much effort to put in as they both felt being around each other and being with each other was one of the easiest things in the world. They just worked together like they were made to officiant went on how they showed love to each other when celebrating the day they met each month with the total of 155 flowers that were exchanged. Then he stopped his speech so Alex and Piper could say their vows. Piper started.

"We promised to keep our vows short. I've written many and they all turned out too long and not fitting because I have no words to describe how happy I am that I met you, that you chose me as the one you want to be with and even more that I get to spend the rest of my life with you. The essential part of all my tries to write the perfect vow is that I love you and I can't wait to spent the rest of our life together." Piper said looking into Alex's eyes the whole time and now slowly feeling tears come up in her eyes. Now it was Alex's turn. She quietly started to speak but everyone could hear in her trembling voice how much Piper's words had touched her.

"Piper. When we met my world was turned upside down. I never thought I'd ever be happy with the thought of staying with one person longer than a couple weeks. I wasn't used to letting anyone this close to me. Then you came along and got me down on one knee after only seven months, standing right here right now and I couldn't feel happier or more blessed. I can't believe that I am so lucky to be with you and get to have you for the rest of my life. I love you with all that I am." Alex said and now both women were crying. Alex could see in the corner of her eyes both Carol and Diane wiping their eyes with tissues.

The officiant went on to the next part. "So it is now my task to ask you Piper Elizabeth Chapman. Do you take Alex Pearl Vause as your wife, now until forever?"

Piper smiled widely and answered: "Yes, I do."

"Then I ask you Alex Pearl Vause. Do you take Piper Elizabeth Chapman as your wife, now until forever?"

Alex looked at Piper and smiled too. "I do."

"Then it is my honour to pronounce you wife and wife." Polly quickly went up to Alex and Piper and presented the box with the rings they had chosen. With a meaningful look at each other they placed them on each others ring finger.

"You may now seal your bond with a kiss." the officiant said.

Alex and Piper moved closer and leaned in. The kiss was sweet and full of emotion. Piper completely forgot where she was. All she knew was that she was with Alex and would be for the rest of her life. She slowly came back to reality that there were other people in the room when they started cheering as the two women were now officially married.

"I love you, Pipes." Alex said.

"I love you, too, Al." Piper returned before the couple turned to face the guests who were waiting to wish the couple all the best for their future.

It took about 40 minutes until everyone had said their congratulations and wishes for the couple and the group now moved towards the party room. It, too, was nicely decorated and there was a long table where everyone would sit to eat and also enough space for a dancefloor. It took a while until everyone found his or her seat and was seated. Slowly it got quieter. It was time to cut the cake and the cups were getting filled with coffee. Now it was Piper's and Alex's task to cut the cake. But first Alex wanted to say a few words.

"Hi everyone. Thank you all for coming today and for all the nice wishes and congratulations earlier. I'm so happy almost everyone could follow our invitation and be here today to celebrate this day with us, that I would describe as the best day of my life." she laughed and smiled widely while looking at Piper who had a similar wide smile on her face. "So before we cut the cake I just wanted to say, thank you for coming, I hope you enjoy this celebration just as much as we do and celebrate!" Everyone cheered and Alex and Piper cut the cake. Everyone lined up to get a piece. They had decided on a cream cake with strawberry filling and everyone was looking at the cake with watering mouths.

While they ate their cake and drank coffee the atmosphere was light and joyful. Everyone was chatting and visibly enjoying the cake.

"Have I already told you how amazing you look? The dress is amazing and you're as beautiful as always." Alex said to Piper while finally eating. They had had the feeling the queue for the cake would never end.

"Thank you. You look amazing too. I mean, I've barely seen anything of the room and the decoration because I can't stop looking at you. You look so gorgeous!" Piper chuckled.

"Yeah, I've noticed." Alex laughed. "Not that I'm complaining though." she added.

"I love you, my dear wife." Piper smiled widely. Calling Alex still felt so new and exciting. It made Piper feel all tingly and extremely happy and excited.

"I love you too. I like the sound of that. My wife." Alex smiled widely and leaned in to kiss Piper.

Quite some time later the music started to play and it was time to open the dancefloor. As both Alex and Piper weren't the best dancer for a couple dance they decided for a nice slow song with a message they could just slowly dance to closely. The song started playing and Alex and Piper moved to the dancefloor.

There are nine-million bicycles in Beijing.

That's a fact,

It's a thing we can't deny,

Like the fact that I will love you 'til I die.

We are twelve-billion light years from the edge.

That's a guess,

No one can ever say it's true,

But I know that I will always be with you.

I'm warmed by the fire of your love every day.

So don't call me a liar,

Just believe everything that I say…

There are six-billion people in the world.

More or less,

And it makes me feel quite small,

But you're the one I love the most of all.

We're high on a wire with the world in our sight,

And I'll never tire,

Of the love that you give me every night.

There are nine-million bicycles in Beijing.

That's a fact,

It's a thing we can't deny,

Like that fact that I will love you 'til I die.

And there are nine-million bicycles in Beijing,

And you know that I will love you 'til I die.

Everyone was looking at them in awe. They radiated pure happiness and everyone was drawn in. When the song ended everyone cheered.

Soon the buffet they ordered as dinner arrived and everyone went over to get the food they liked the best. When everyone was back at their seats and it calmed down a little, Nicky took the chance to say what she had planned.

"Hi everyone. I think most people know me and for those who don't, I'm Nicky, best friend and today best woman of Alex. And I guess in that position it is my duty to say a few things. I never really saw myself standing upfront here and giving a speech at her wedding but neither did I see coming what would happen when we walked into a bar for the first time." while saying that she could see Alex shooting her glances looking annoyed. "Calm down, Vause, I won't tell what happened. Just a little example that you always manage to surprise me." Nicky chuckled and the crowd laughed. "Another example would be the whole last year. When Alex first returned from that workshop in Washington DC something was different, I noticed immediately. She could barely tell me what she had learned and what the workshop was about. Reason for that being a beautiful blonde other participant who drew all attention to her. So instead of learning about how to improve her business she learned about Piper and how to improve their connection. Not that Vause here ever had a problem with charming the ladies." the crowd laughed and Nicky saw Piper and Alex look at each other remembering how they first met and laughing with everyone else. "Over the past year these two managed to surprise me for many more times. From moving in after 4 months to getting engaged after 7 months of knowing each other and getting married today, about a year after they first met. But to be honest, I've never seen my best friend this happy and so much in love. I think everyone in here can see that you two fit together perfectly. So it is my pleasure to wish the two of you all the best in the world. So here is to Alex and Piper." she raised her glass and everyone followed her example accompanied by shouts of "To Alex and Piper."

Polly took her chance that everyone was quiet, cause she had a few words prepared too. "Hi. As many might know I'm Polly and Piper's maid of honour. As we do the speeches now I'd like to say a few words too. I promise though to keep it short. Little less than a year ago Piper and I had a discussion if there is 'The One'. Piper said she doesn't believe in the idea that there is 'Mr. or Mrs. Right' who is the perfect fit for you and is the one you're meant to be with. That was the same evening we were in our favourite bar and she would get that goofy smile every time she got a text from a certain tall woman sitting next to her right now. It was a couple days after she met Alex. And even though Piper told me she didn't believe there was 'The One', it was her who came to me couple months later telling me that she might have been wrong about that and she slowly started to believe that there is. So now I'm so happy to be here at your wedding. And I'm so happy, Pipes, that you found your Mrs. Right." she smiled widely but had tears in her eyes.

"Thank you Polly." Piper stood up and hugged her with tears in her eyes. "And thank you Nicky." she added. "I hope everyone enjoys the food. Thank you all for coming again and thank you for your speeches."

Everyone ate and chatted joyfully. It got later and the dj announced the father-daughter dance. Piper had thought they'd leave that part out, because she didn't want Alex to feel left out or sad, cause she had no connection to her father but Alex insisted that Piper danced with her dad and that it was announced. While Piper and Bill were dancing Piper saw her wife standing on the side watching the two and smiling at her reassuringly. When the song ended Bill gave Piper a short kiss on the cheek, they hugged and everyone cheered. The dj was about to play the next song when Bill went up to him and made a sign to stop. He took the mikrofone.

"Hello. I'd like to say a few words before this evening goes on. First: Piper I am so proud of you for going your own way and following your heart and not giving up. It took me and your mother some time to accept that this is what makes you happy, but we both can see that you haven't been happier than during this last year. Second: I'd like to say thank you to Alex. For being this amazing woman that we got to know about and for making Piper the happiest we've seen her. Please continue doing so. Welcome to the family." he went over to Alex who stood there with tears running down her cheeks and hugged her. After they let go he went on "And third: Today I not only got a daughter that is bursting with happiness but I also got a second daughter. Piper has told me about the situation with your father, Alex. So I would like to ask you: Would you like to dance with me as the second father-daughter dance today?" he looked at her. Piper who stood next to Alex was speechless now too but so proud of her dad and so happy for Alex that all those intense feelings were almost too much.

"Y-yes, I would love to." Alex finally said, who was perplexed by this turn of events.

They danced and after the song ended everyone cheered and when the next song started the dancefloor was filled. Piper and Alex were dancing closely and got the line "Get a room!" quite a few times. Mostly by Nicky though, who seemed to have fun by startling everyone around them when yelling that over the dancefloor.

It was shortly past midnight when Alex found Piper and told her they'd have to leave. It had taken Alex some convincing but eventually Piper had given in and had let Alex make the decision where they'd go for their honeymoon. She had regretted it pretty fast when she couldn't get a word out of Alex what their destination was. She was definitely excited but had no clue where they'd be going. All that Alex would tell her was that she'd pack for her and they'd need about a day to get there. Which only gave Piper the hint they'd be very far away but still nothing specifical. They had taken clothes to change into and their suitcases and everything with them to the location. So now they were saying goodbye to everyone and thanked them for their presents and wishes. They quickly got changed and soon were sitting in the cab to the airport. Alex had talked with Nicky, Lorna, Pete, Pipers parents and her own mother who'd tidy up the next day and bring their presents and wedding dresses to their apartment the next day. Polly insisted to help, but wasn't sure how much she could do.

"Will you blindfold me so I won't see what is written on the board or will you finally tell me where we are going?" Piper asked Alex as they sat in the back of the taxi. They sat close and held hands, occasionally stealing a few kisses which made the taxi driver look into the rearview mirror more often than necessary.

"You will see soon. I know you will love it. We've talked about going there sometime, so I'm sure you'll be happy when you'll find out where we'll go." Alex told her.

"That could be literally anywhere. We have so many places we both want to see!" Piper was getting a little impatient.

"Patience, my dear wife. You'll know soon enough." Alex chuckled feeling all excited calling Piper her wife.

"Mhm. Say that again. It sounds so good." Piper smiled widely and leaned in for a kiss.

"My dear wife? I really like the sound of that." Alex said, placing a soft kiss on Pipers lips.

"I love you, Mrs. Vause." Piper said.

"I love you, too, Mrs. Vause." Alex returned.

They had had a long discussion who'd change the name or if they went for a double name. Eventually Piper had said that she wanted to take Alex's name, cause she wasn't keen on a double name like Vause-Chapman or Chapman-Vause and would love to share her family's name with her. Alex was happy and asked Piper couple more times if she was sure which the blonde always affirmed. So now Piper was officially Piper Elizabeth Vause. And she couldn't be happier about it.

_** I finally finished this chapter. It took me quite some time as I wanted it to be exactly how I imagined it and it took me some time to find the right words. I hope you liked it. Let me know. The lyrics used here are from Katie Melua - Nine million bycicles. Also It will take a bit of time with the next chapter as I'm on a festival for the weekend and won't have time to write and post it next monday as I originally planned. Be patient, you'll find out where they'll be going for their honeymoon._


	39. Chapter 39 off to the honeymoon

Chapter 39: Off to the honeymoon

When they arrived at the airport it was half past one and both women felt exhausted and couldn't wait to get on the plane. The day has been long and physically draining but also filled with so many emotions that they were both looking forward to sitting down in the plane and get some rest and hopefully some sleep.

They arrived at the gate, Alex had everything prepared so they could check in quickly and easily and Piper loved that her wife (she couldn't stop saying that, in her mind or out loud) had planned this all through so well. Now Alex handed her her boarding ticket and Piper was happy she finally found out where they'd be going for the next two weeks.

"Bali? Oh my… Alex! That's amazing!" Piper's smile grew wide. "You were so right. I love that we're going to Bali for our honeymoon."

Alex returned her bright smile feeling excited and happy that Piper reacted so excited to the revelation of their honeymoon destination. "I thought you would. As I said, we talked about going there a couple times, so I thought 'Why not for our honeymoon?'"

"Thank you, Alex. This is so thoughtful. I love you." Piper said gushingly.

"I love you too Pipes." Alex returned and both women went through security check. Soon they were sitting in their seats and the plane was about to take off. The flight was long and both women were asleep pretty fast as soon as the plane was in the air. They were both exhausted and needed sleep urgently. Seeing this was their first night as a married couple Piper had imagined they'd be doing something else than sleeping on a plane, but they'd arrive at their honeymoon destination in a couple hours and have every night and day for whatever they wanted to do to each other and with each other.

Both women woke up a few hours later already feeling a bit more rested and relaxed. As they checked the monitor to where the plane was currently at they saw that the time of their flight was now six hours less, so they had been sleeping for quite a long time. When the stewardesses brought breakfast, both women noticed how hungry they were.

"Did you sleep well?" Alex asked Piper while they ate.

"As good as you can sleep on a plane. But I'm happy we passed some time and the flight is shorter. I'm looking forward to actually being there. Like I want to be there already. How about you? How did you sleep?" Piper asked back.

"Yeah, I wish we were there already too, mostly because I have problems keeping my hands to myself seeing you in this shirt and all cute with your messy hair from sleeping. I did sleep pretty well though. Better than expected." Alex told her and looked at her wife lovingly but also a little seductive, which she just couldn't hide.

"Mhm, I feel you. Couple more hours and we're in our hotel room, Al. I can't wait." Piper replied and tried not to look at Alex, because as soon as she saw the look on her face she knew it would be even harder to sit next to her wife for the next couple hours and not jump her right there. "But I really need to use the bathroom. See you in a bit." she said and got up.

She quickly found the closest toilet and got in. She didn't really need to pee but rather calm herself so she could concentrate on not doing anything inappropriate in front of the other passengers. A few minutes after she got into the cabin she heard a knock on the door.

"Occupied!" she said loudly. She still needed some time.

"Hey Pipes, it's me!" she heard Alex's voice from the other side of the door. "Open up, please."

"What are you doing, Al?" Piper asked back, this wasn't helping her to calm down at all. She slowly opened the door and Alex quickly slipped in.

"What am I doing?" Alex chuckled and pressed her lips on Piper's, who was surprised but quickly caught herself and returned the very passionate and rough kiss. The cabin was very small and Piper was sure they'd both end up with a few bruises, because their elbows hit the wall every now and then but she didn't care much about it right now. It'd be all worth it. The kiss got even more intense if possible and soon hands were all over.

"You want me to go first?" Piper asked a bit later feeling more relaxed and satisfied, while her breath was still a bit laboured.

Alex chuckled. "You worried that people will think we did what we literally just did?"

"So you want to just walk out there together? Everyone is gonna look when two people are coming out of the bathroom! Together!" Piper didn't feel very comfortable with the thought of everyone knowing what just happened in here. She loved sex with Alex, it was amazing but she really didn't want anyone to know they were all over each other in here couple minutes ago. She didn't regret it, it was all worth it, but she'd rather not be in this situation of having to decide how to get out of this cabin.

"And it's not suspicious when there is someone coming out and the toilet is still occupied?" Alex laughed. She didn't bother if everyone looked and thought what they'd think. Eventually they agreed on going out together. A few people looked and their faces had expressions of 'I think I know what you did' on them but it wasn't as bad as Piper had imagined. Still she was happy when she was back in her seat.

"Can I ask you something?" Piper said after a while of the two being quiet.

"You don't have to ask if you can ask me something." Alex chuckled. "Anything you want. Shoot."

"During Nicky's little speech at our wedding she said something about your first time in a bar, your reaction was rather like 'Please don't tell'. I got curious though. I wondered if you might tell me the story maybe? Now that noone else is going to hear it." Piper asked almost shyly. Alex found it really cute how then blonde tried to be gentle and considerate while being so curious.

"Oh my, I hoped everyone had overheard that part. It's quite honestly one of the most embarrassing stories there is. But for you, and only you, I'll tell it. If you promise not to make fun of me that is." Alex said but smiled at Piper.

"I wouldn't dare." Piper answered as serious as she could.

"Okay. So it all started when Nicky had the glorious idea to go to a bar when we were 19. We both had drunken barely any alcohol before so we weren't used to it and of course little to drink did enough to make us tipsy and worse." Alex started to tell.

**FLASHBACK**

"Do you really think this is a good idea, Nicky?" Alex asked her best friend. They were both nineteen and about to go to a bar with their new fake IDs. They had snuck out of the small flat that Alex and her mom stayed in and were on their way. Suddenly Alex's nerves kicked in and she wasn't so sure if this was a good thing to do anymore. Yes, she was curious to see how going to a bar would be, but what if someone caught them? After all they weren't allowed into bars with their nineteen years.

"Don't be a spoilsport, Vause." Nicky said slightly annoyed but also excited. "They won't know we've got fake IDs, they were made by the best fake ID producer that I met."

"Yeah, your sleazy, lazy cousin who still lives in his parents basement and he's what? 35 years old? 36?" Alex said quietly but loud enough for Nicky to hear.

"Oh shut up, will ya? If you don't want to do this anymore then go home, I'm happy doing this on my own. But think of all the nice, hot ladies you'll miss!" Nicky tried convincing her friend.

"Yeah, like they won't be way older than me. And I can't tell them that I'm not 22 as it says on my shiny new fake ID." Alex noticed.

"Stop this! It's only three years difference! Noone is gonna notice! We'll go in there for an hour, see how it is and we can leave any time we want, okay?" Nicky tried one last time.

"Okay, okay. I'll come." Alex finally gave in and they arrived at the bar they had picked.

They got in without any hitches and sat down at a table not that far away from the bar.

"See, everything fine." Nicky said. "Let's see what they have."

They got themselves drinks and Alex was still surprised how easy that seemed to be. Obviously their fake ID's were made well enough to go through as real ones. Or the bartender just didn't care that she served alcohol to minors. Alex was still uneasy and a little uncomfortable, cause she knew that if her mom found out about this, she'd be in big trouble.

"Okay, let's make a bet. Whoever manages to take a girl home tonight gets 10 Dollar." Nicky said.

"You're staying over at our place, you really think this is a good idea?" Alex reminded her.

"Okay. Then number. Whoever gets at least one or more phone numbers from one or more of the girls wins." Nicky changed the bet.

"Okay." Alex answered gaining more confidence. They both looked around trying to find a hot girl to hit on.

Nicky quickly found one and left. Alex kept looking around and saw someone sitting alone at the bar. She just saw the back of that person but the long hair was looking good and Alex was curious. So she got up and sat down at the bar next to that lonely person sitting there ordering herself a beer. She couldn't do another cocktail or something strong as that as she already felt a little tipsy after the first one, oh she wasn't used to drinking alcohol. She didn't want to seem desperate or something so when she sat down so she didn't look over yet but sat there as she just sat next to her by accident.

"All on your own, too?" the person to her right asked. 'What a deep voice but kinda sexy' Alex thought.

"Not really, her with my best friend. But she's off somewhere trying to get a number from one of the girls." Alex answered.

"Well, let her. You're in good company now." her sitting neighbour said.

Slowly Alex thought it would be time for her to look at her, everything else would be rude and she was curious. She turned her head and wasn't sure if she saw right. 'Oh please not.' Next to her sat a man. A very androgynous one with long hair but still male.

"I'm Randy by the way." he introduced himself. 'Fuck' Alex thought.

"I'm Alex." she said, with a slight disappointment in her voice.

"What? You don't like the name or why so disappointed all of a sudden?" he asked looking at her curiously.

"Sorry, it's… I don't even know how to explain this." she felt embarrassed. She couldn't tell him, that she thought he was a girl, now could she?

"Try me." he challenged her.

"Okay, no offense, really. But… I might have been drinking too much and with the long hair and everything, I might have thought, sorry about that though, that you're a girl." she ended her explanation deciding to stick with the truth. He laughed loudly.

"Oh my. I haven't heard that before. Now this is a surprise. It's not like I'm the only guy with longer hair?! Oh, so you were like your friend trying to find a girl tonight?" he was chuckling while saying this.

"Uhm, yes. Now that I've completely made a fool out of myself already I might just tell the rest too. Nicky and I had a bet who would get a girls number first. So I guess she won. I can see her sitting back at our place already grinning like this is the best night of her life." Alex told him while looking back at the table she sat at with Nicky before.

"What did you bet for?" he wanted to know.

"10 Dollar." Alex just replied, realizing that she had lost and would have to give Nicky the money.

"Oh well. I guess you owe her." Randy only said and turned to his beer.

"I better get over there. It was nice though talking to you. And again I'm sorry." Alex quickly said, somehow keen to get away from the situation but not really keen on Nicky's reaction.

"Hey, Vause. Finally back. You're straight now? Since when? Why didn't you tell me?" Nicky faked disappointment but bursted into laughter soon.

"Shut up, Nicky. That long hair was really misleading. And the androgynous stature!" Alex said feeling totally embarrassed. "I wanna go home. You done here?"

"Okay. Oh my lord. I can't wait to tell the story how Alex Vause, lord of lesbians, hit on a guy the first time she was like what? tipsy? Not even drunk!" Nicky laughed and started to walk out.

"Could you not? This already is the most embarrassing night I've ever had!" Alex shouted at Nicky as they were standing outside the bar. It was a try, she knew Nicky would have her fun with that story.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

When Alex finished telling her story Piper couldn't help but laugh out loud. She tried to hold it back, but couldn't help herself.

"It's one of those stories that never stops being embarrassing. Other stories that once were embarrassing are quite funny to tell now that time has passed. But not this one." Alex explained, understanding why the blonde would laugh but still feeling uncomfortable with this particular story.

"I'm sorry. Why is it embarrassing? Everyone could make a mistake like that." Piper said after she calmed down. "And everyone has a weird 'That one night I was so drunk' story." she tried to comfort her.

"I wasn't that drunk, which is why it is so embarrassing. Oh and please tell me yours!" Alex said, now getting curious.

"Maybe another time." Piper tried to get out of it.

"Hey, it's only fair! I told you one of my most embarrassing moments. Now it's your turn!" Alex complained.

"Now you make me regret that I even asked for your story." Piper replied, laughing though.

"Please?" Alex tried convincing her.

"Okay, okay. So, my mother dragged me to her country club. I have no idea how she got the idea that I would like that but she said, it would be good for my education, socializing and so on. It was boring as nothing I've ever done before, so I tried finding something to do. They of course wouldn't serve alcohol to minors, but there was this one employee there, probably a college boy working there over the summer, who'd always put a little bit in my drink. Of course not unasked, he didn't try to fill me up or something like this, we called it the special orange juice. Anyway. One day I had quite a lot of them, like way too many, it was about the end of summer and it was his last week there so he didn't care much and drank some himself. At some point we were both pretty drunk and thought it was a good idea to go through the telephone book and call people. He just dialed one number after the other and we would say something stupid. It was fun until he accidentally dialed our landline and my father answered the phone and recognized my voice and that I was obviously drunk." Piper laughed at the memory. "That got me into quite a bit of trouble."

Alex laughed. "Well that is quite a story. Did you get grounded or what happened?"

"Yeah, I got grounded for about a month and had to listen to a long speech of how I'm supposed to be a role model and not put a bad light onto our family by doing something like this. But: I never had to go to the country club with my mother again, so in the end it was all worth it."

"Wow. Look at you, pranking everyone and still getting what you wanted with a few hitches." Alex nodded laughing how everything had turned out well for Piper. "But nice story." she added.

"Yeah, well." Piper replied.

Alex and Piper kept talking. The flight would still be another five hours and they had plenty of time left. They talked about what they wanted to do and explore, since Piper only knew where they were going since they had entered the airport she hadn't had much time to think about it but now there was enough time to discuss it with Alex. She was all livid until she suddenly seemed to remember something and went quiet.

"Hey, everything okay, Pipes?" Alex wondered worriedly about the sudden change of mood of the blonde.

"Yeah, it's just… I think I haven't told you about this yet. There is another thing, and I know it's not a happy thing to do but I want and need to do this." she silently started.

"Of course. What is it, love? You can tell me." Alex said gently, encouraging Piper to say what was on her mind.

"Uhm, my uh, grandma is buried there." Piper started. Alex stayed silent waiting for her to go on.

"She was my favourite person in the world. Whenever I needed a time out from my parents I went to her. And I was always welcome. She would make me a hot chocolate and we'd talk about everything. I could tell her everything. She was one of the first people I told about me discovering that I like girls." Piper smiled at the memory.

"When my granddad died she taught herself how to invest in the stock market and got really good at it. In no time she had so much money. My grandmother was one of the most open-minded and curious people I know. When she had enough money she sold everything she had and went travelling around the world. Every couple weeks we would get a new postcard from another place saying how great it was there and telling us what adventures she had experienced." Piper's eyes were shining as she spoke about her grandma and her adventures. It was obvious how much she admired her.

"When there were no more cards we wondered. The last card we had gotten was from Bali and my parents made contact with the place she last stayed at." Piper's voice got quiet and her voice trembled. "Turned out she had died from an infection and they had buried her there. She obviously had written down in her will that she wanted to be buried at the last place she stayed longer than two weeks, cause it must have been beautiful if she stayed there longer than that. So we weren't able to go to the funeral. I've never been able to visit her grave and actually say good bye to her." Piper ended sobbingly.

Alex turned and hugged Piper, which wasn't easy considering they sat next to each other in their plane seats but she wanted to comfort her wife and make her feel better.

"Of course we will go there, Pipes. I'm sorry that you lost your grandma. But it sounds like she was an amazing woman. I already love her just because she was so important to you and she was there for you like noone else and I haven't even met her." Alex said with a lump in her throat.

"Thank you. She was the best woman that I've known and it makes me kinda proud to be her granddaughter." Piper smiled a little. Alex was happy to see a smile return to her wife's face.

They kept talking and Piper told a bit more about her grandmother and shared some of her wildest stories, always with the most admiring look on her face that showed how much she had loved her grandma. When both got a bit quieter they decided to watch a movie to kill the last hours of the flight until they finally reached their destination. Not long after they finished their movie the plane started the landing process and soon they arrived at the airport they were ending their flight at.

Finally they were in Bali.

_*** Hey eveyone. Sorry this update is so late. But it took me some time to finish this chapter. I originally intended to write the honeymoon in one chapter but somehow got so many ideas that I had to do another one. I'm not sure if there are direct flights from NY to Bali, I guess not as it is quite far. This however is fictional and there is one. Please tell me if you liked it, I'm always excited when I see that there is a new review. _


	40. Chapter 40 Bali

Chapter 40: Bali

Both women were happy and exhausted when they arrived at their hotel and checked in. As soon as they were in their room both of them fell onto the giant bed. The hotel had as a treat from the house for their honeymoon given them one of the suites and looking around from their position on the bed both women enjoyed what they saw. They had started their journey in the middle of the night and as it took them a day to get there it was now again in the middle of the night, so both women decided to get changed and go to bed.

"I'm just quickly having a shower. After the party and the long flight I really need one." Alex said heading off towards the bathroom. Piper followed her with her eyes.

"I could use one too." Piper said more quietly, rather to herself. With Alex half undressed before going into the bathroom she couldn't help her thoughts but to wander off to Alex taking off the rest of her clothes and getting into the shower. Just imagining this made her jumping off the bed and undressing herself while walking towards the bathroom from where she could hear the water running already. The image of Alex under the shower made her excited and feel an ache to touch her and get into that shower with her which was exactly what she was about to do.

"Look who decided to join!" Alex said with a seductive smile and a smirk on her lips when she noticed Piper coming into the shower.

"Well, how could I resist this?" Piper said with a look at Alex's naked body. She couldn't hold back and got closer to kiss Alex. Her hands ran down her back soon landing on her butt.

"You know how I love this ass!" Piper said. Alex moaned.

"I noticed you kinda have a thing for it." she chuckled.

"Oh, not just that. Also for those two nice ladies!" Piper said and turned her attention to Alex's breasts who couldn't hold back anymore and pressed Piper into the wall of the shower and kissed her roughly and passionately.

The shower took them a while longer than it usually would have but both women got out forty minutes later feeling clean, loved and satisfied. They got into their pyjamas and cuddled up in bed.

"So, do you still not like shower sex?" Piper asked Alex laughingly remembering an earlier discussion.

"Well, I used to. Maybe you changed my mind." Alex replied with a smile pulling Piper closer into her.

"I love it when you spoon me like that." Piper said sleepingly.

"I love that too. And I love you." Alex said with a yawn.

"I love you, too, Al." Piper quietly said and dozed off.

The next morning Alex woke up before Piper and decided to order breakfast already so they could have it together on the little balcony that belonged to the suite. She ordered different fruits, some pancakes, chocolate croissants and coffee. It arrived pretty quickly and Piper was still sleeping. The coffee was smelling nice and was steamingly hot. Soon the smell spread over the whole room which caused Piper to stir awake.

"Mhm, it smells so good." Piper said, the sleep still evident in her voice.

"Good morning, sleepy head. I've taken the liberty to order breakfast already, assuming you'd be up soon and as hungry as I am." Alex said with a loving look to her wife.

"Good morning, Al. Thank you. And yes you were assuming right. I'm starving." just on cue Piper stomach growled.

"I can hear that. Get your sweet ass over here and we'll have breakfast on the balcony." Alex laughed.

Piper quickly got out of bed and went over. It really smelled heavenly and when she stepped onto the balcony she had the best view she could imagine. Not far from the hotel was the ocean, they could overlook part of the bay, the beach and the little streets leading towards it.

"Oh my god. This is perfect! The sun is shining, we can have breakfast with that view, the food looks amazing and smells fantastic and I'm here with you enjoying our honeymoon. What more could I want?!" Piper exclaimed.

"True, this moment couldn't be more perfect, except I'm last on the list of things you enjoy!" Alex mocked hurt but moved closer to give her a kiss.

"I just saved the best for last. That list didn't go from best to least but vice versa." Piper defended herself.

"Pipes, I was joking. I know that." Alex laughed and hugged Piper and gave her a small peck on her cheek to reassure her. Now both women were really hungry though and dove into their breakfast.

"What do you want to do today?" Alex asked as they slowly finished eating.

"I think it would be nice to head to the beach. Swim, enjoy the sun, read a bit." Piper suggested.

"Yeah, sounds good." Alex said. "Plus I get to rub sunscreen all over your hot body. And so do you!" she seductively added.

"Oh god, Alex. Stop this or we won't ever leave the hotel!" Piper complained. "I wanted to see something once we are here. More than you naked in our hotel bed. It's not that I don't like that view…"

"So I'm the one who stops us from going out? I don't think so." Alex chuckled.

"Anyway. I'm gonna get dressed and ready for the beach. I just quickly need to unpack a few things before we head out." Piper changed the topic. Alex chuckled but went inside too and changed into her swimsuit that she recently bought and Piper hadn't seen yet. She was sure her wife would like it though. It was sexy and showed quite a bit of her cleavage. Alex put on a dress on top, she smirked when she thought of Piper seeing her in her new swimsuit. How long would they be staying at the beach? Alex didn't care if they headed back to the hotel soon after getting to the beach. They'd be on the island a bit longer and could go there any other day they wanted to.

They got to the beach a while later and found a good spot where they put their stuff. They decided to go for a swim first before lying down to read or talk. Piper slowly got out of her summer dress and revealed a nice dark red bikini. Alex wondered if Piper had the same thoughts choosing this bikini to wear as she had cause Alex wasn't able to take her eyes off of her wife. Obviously she wasn't the only one playing dirty. While Piper acted all innocent Alex was sure that she knew what effect she had on her. Now it was Alex's turn. She slowly took her dress off, always keeping an eye on the blonde and as she got out of her dress she could hear her gasp.

"God, Alex you're trying to kill me today, aren't you?" Piper exclaimed. Alex smirked and was satisfied that her new purchase had the effect on her wife like she had planned.

"No, why would I? I love you." Alex said innocently. From the corner of her eye she could see Piper rolling her eyes.

"You think they have a bar at the beach somewhere?" Piper asked.

"Do you feel like drinking already?" Alex chuckled.

"Well, I thought I might get myself a sex on the beach. Cause it's way too crowded on this beach for the real thing." Piper replied almost nonchalantly. Now it was Alex's turn to gasp. 'If you really want this, two can play this game' she thought and played along.

"I actually haven't seen one." she answered. "Pipes, before we go in could you help me with the sunscreen?"

"Sure." Piper took the bottle and started with Alex's back. "You good to do the rest yourself?" she asked after she was done.

"Why? You were doing a great job." Alex told Piper knowing the blonde would have serious problems with her self restraint if she went on. Especially when it came to her front or long legs.

"Well, I gotta do me too, or we'll never get to swim today." Piper said, the effect of Alex's half naked body on her very visible. Piper tried to avoid looking at Alex because she knew she would need a lot of self control to hold back from jumping her wife in front of all other beach guests.

"Fair enough. I'll take care of myself then." Alex said, hoping Piper would react to her little sexual innuendo. And she did. Piper closed her eyes trying to concentrate on herself.

"Okay done." she said after a bit.

"Me too." Alex replied with one last stroke of her hands over her breasts, or better the part that wasn't covered by her swimsuit, as to spread out the last of the sunscreen she had on her hands. From the corner of her eye she could see Piper turning away and heading towards the water and heard her mumble a "God, I hope the water is cold."

Alex smiled. Piper had wanted this. She was the first one to start this teasing. But it looked like Alex had won their little game so far. Or at least scored the first point. Quickly she joined Piper in the water, which was rather warm and probably not as cold as cold as Piper hoped.

When they returned to the beach both women lay down and let themselves dry and relaxed in the sun. After a while Piper took her book out of their bag and started reading. Alex slipped her arms out f the straps of her swimsuit so that now it was strapless.

"Gosh, Alex. You're the worst you know that?" she heard Piper exclaim couple minutes later which indicated to Alex that she had just looked over and was caught off guard finding her wife there with her swimsuit further down her body than supposed to.

"What? Why? If I tan I don't want lines! I want this nice and even. That's why I used sunscreen on all of my body." Alex said acting innocent waiting for Piper to swallow the bait. Piper groaned.

"God, I give in. Can we go back?" Piper said already collecting her things.

"Already?" Alex chuckled.

"Already?" Piper asked back unbelievingly. "It took all my strength to get this far! It's so hard to resist you!"

"I could say the same. But you're the one who started this!" Alex chuckled now throwing her stuff into the bag too.

Both women headed back to their hotel room. The teasing that went on over most of the day had made both of them impatient already so they couldn't wait to get back. Once back at their room both women couldn't hold back and they were out of their swimsuit and bikini as if they had caught fire.

The rest of their first week was spent with some sightseeing and another few days at the beach, almost always heading back to the hotel earlier than they had planned, but with time they both got a little better with their self control.

The following weekend they booked a car to get them to the cemetery where Piper's grandma was buried. They had asked the woman at the reception who was very helpful getting them the address and who organized the driver. The drive took them about an hour to get there and Piper told Alex a bit more about her grandma and her time with her. How she spent nearly every summer at her grandma's house, cause she didn't want to stay with her parents all summer and the girl who lived next door to her grandma grew to be one of Piper's closest friends. How that one time when both Piper and Cal were there Cal set his pillow on fire.

On the way they picked up flowers that Piper wanted to bring her grandma, some of her favourites. Piper was anxious and Alex felt how nervous her wife was and tried to calm her. She knew that the day would be hard for Piper, but that saying goodbye and visiting the grave would help Piper. Which didn't mean it wouldn't be emotional. They arrived at the cemetery and got out of the car.

"Everything okay Pipes?" Alex asked.

"Yes and no. I know it'll help me to say goodbye and everything but it also feels like then it'll be so much more real. Not like it wasn't before, but it wasn't so palpable, you know? And I don't know if I'm ready for this…" Piper started rambling but was interrupted by Alex.

"Shh, it's okay Piper. I get what you mean. We can just wait here until you're ready. We can talk and go at your pace. If you need another moment that's totally fine. I know this is very emotional for you but I want you to know that I am here for you. If you need me to stay here and go there alone or want me to come with you both is fine with me. Whatever you need and helps you right now." Alex tried to calm her and hugged Piper. She immediately felt her relax a it in her arms.

"No no. I want you to come with me. I just need a minute." Piper said her head leaned against Alex's shoulder. Alex hugging her and standing here with her and just giving her time helped her a lot to calm down and get ready to visit her grandmother's grave. She didn't know if Alex knew how much she did for Piper right now by just being there, if not she did the perfect thing intuitively.

"Okay. I think I am as ready as I can be." Piper said a little later. They slowly went further into the cemetery. After a while they found Celeste's grave.

"This is it." Piper said quietly, the lump in her throat clearly audible.

"I'm here." Alex said and stood right behind Piper.

"Hi, nana." Piper started teary-eyed "I finally made it here to visit you. You definitely found a hard place to visit. Not exactly close to home, but it's beautiful so I totally understand you'd stay here for longer and now forever." Piper stopped speaking as she was trying to get her emotions in check somehow to go on speaking. Alex stood there holding Piper.

"You once said that thing to me, that got stuck in my head. You said: "Go out and eat the world!" You said that quite often and I try to live by it. You also added to that that one time to not get stuck at home with some man but to go out and eat the world." Piper chuckled, behind her she felt and heard Alex chuckle lightly too. "Might have taken that one more literal than you intended but I'd like to introduce you to my beautiful wife Alex." Piper took Alex's hand and squeezed it. "I think you two would have gotten along very well. I wish you two could have met. That would have been one of the happiest days, the two people who are most important in my life together." Piper smiled with tears running down her cheeks. "But I want you to know that I am happy. And that's because of Alex. We're here on our honeymoon. And you won't believe it, nana, but mom and dad finally got around to me being with a woman. It took them a while, but they did and I know how happy it would've made you to see that happening. So as I'm here updating you a little I want you to know that Cal also got married. He found a girl that's as unique as him and they work together perfectly. I'm so happy for him, he's really happy. Her name is Neri. And Danny, he's still often absent and stays with his family in California. He doesn't call or contact anyone much but shows up for family events like Cal's and my wedding. So with him it's the usual. It's okay, he's always been like that." Piper went quiet.

"Do you mind if I say something to her?" Alex asked quietly. Piper wondered what Alex wanted to say to her grandma which she never met but agreed.

"Hello Celeste, I know we've never met and I wish this was different because from what Piper told me you were a very impressive person and great grandmother. But I wanted to thank you. For being this important person in Piper's life and helping her become this amazing woman that she is. Because this woman here is the best thing that happened to me in my whole life. I will do my best to keep her as happy as she can be and be there for her whenever she needs me." Alex spoke quietly. Piper was speechless but loved what Alex said. She turned around to face Alex. She softly kissed her.

"Thank you for saying that." Piper quietly thanked her.

"You don't have to thank me. It's the truth and your grandma deserves to know what a great woman you are, and partially because of her." Alex replied. They smiled at each other. It was evident that both women had shed some tears.

"Okay, I think I'm ready to go back to the hotel." Piper said a bit later. "Goodbye nana. I'm not sure how soon we can come visit, it's quite a long way here. But it was good coming here to visit you. I hope you know how much you helped me. And Alex was right, you were one of the most important people to make me the person I am today, so thank you for that. I love you nana. Goodbye." she stood there for another minute and then turned around and reached for Alex's hand and the two women left the cemetery.

In the evening they were in their hotel room and were getting ready to go out for dinner.

"Hey Alex, you ready?" Piper asked loudly.

"Yeah, coming!" she heard her wife answer from the bedroom. Alex came out and joined Piper in the entrance area of the suite.

"Hey, beautiful!" Piper greeted her.

"Hi, you don't look so bad yourself." Alex chuckled.

"Uhm, before we leave I wanted to thank you for today. You helped me a lot. Just being there and holding me like you did gave me a lot of strength. It means a lot to me." Piper told her.

"Pipes. I love you. Of course I was there for you, just like you would be there for me. I know this was hard for you today. As I said, I'll do my best to make you the happiest I can. And we didn't say the for better or worse part in our vows but it still applies. I want to be there for you. Because I love you. So much." Alex told her seriously.

"I love you, too, Al." Piper answered and kissed Alex softly, feeling lighter after this little conversation.

The next week passed too quickly for the liking of both women. But the week was filled with many more activities like hiking through the forest not far from their hotel to spending more days on the beach and of course still quite a bit of time spend in their hotel room or more specifically the bedroom. Just as during the first week it didn't take much for either one to get so turned on that dragging the other one back to the hotel was inevitable.

They were standing at the airport ready to board their flight home. Both women were sad that they had to leave and go back but agreed on coming back to Bali on day.

"You ready to go home, Pipes?" Alex asked as they sat in their seats.

"Well if I had the choice I'd stay. But all good things come to an end eventually." Piper replied.

"Unfortunately they do. But I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you." Alex said and kissed Piper.

**THE END**

_*** Hey everyone. It's true, everything comes to an end and so does this story. There might be, if I feel inspired enough, an epilogue but so far this is it. Somewhere on my list of ideas is a sequel to this story but for now I'd like to write one of my other ideas. It's gonna be a bit until you might read something from me though, summer holiday and so on. I'll be pretty busy the next weeks. Please review. If you have wishes for the possible sequel (I can't promise anything) I am open for suggestions.  
_


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